The Path Forward
by havingsomethingtosay
Summary: Klaroline Follows 5X11. Caroline discovers that Klaus is having a baby with the girl who destroyed her relationship with Tyler. The shock that follows moves her farther from the path she thought she was going to take. New Orleans beckons as Caroline tries to find herself and help the man she cannot ignore find peace. M eventually, be patient.
1. Chapter 1

"…. What", Caroline barely whispered as her brain steamrolled over the information that had just been given to her. Klaus. Baby. "….what?"

"Hayley's pregnant with Klaus' baby." Tyler repeated.

They were all seated in the Salvatore's boarding house, sans Damon and Elena. The fire roared warming the vampires, humans and witches rounded up to celebrate the demise of Katerina Petrova. Tyler's presence, usually comforting to Caroline, was now unwanted as she tried and failed to zip her jacket higher up on her neck, attempting to cover marks, scents, any evidence of the days previous encounters.

"Tyler, we heard what you said, its just not possible" Caroline's brain began to process words again as Stefan tried to calm the room. "Vampires can't father children".

"Well Klaus isn't just a vampire. It gets worse too. His demon spawn's blood has the ability to create more hybrids. That asshole will be able to create another army."

At that stunning exclamation, Caroline pushed off of the couch an exited the room. She could not process this information with everyone adding on more insanity and the outbursts that followed each new bombshell. Tyler glared at her as she left. She didn't care; he could think anything he wanted. This was huge. She needed a minute.

How could this be possible? How could Klaus be a father? How could he sleep with her and not tell her about this? Well, she breathed out loud, a small laugh escaping her lips. Because it's Klaus. This is exactly what he does. He lies, and manipulates and kisses so rough and tender all at the same time. She put her hands on her hips so she could feel where his fingers dug into her skin. Where she would be yellowing with sweet bruises if she were still human…If she were still human she could be pregnant right now. She sat down on the bench in the hallway, brought hands to her chest massaging the flesh on her shoulders, trying to ignore the yelling from the other room. Tyler's trying to rally the troops, giving the Scooby gang their next monster to take down. And amongst all of this she feels exhaustion. Please, can it ever stop just for a second? Can't she just go to college and be normal? Is there any such thing as normal anymore?

In the other room, there is another commotion. And Caroline over hears Stefan disagreeing with Tyler's plan to… end the pregnancy. "Are you kidding me? We cannot allow him to sire any more hybrids!" Tyler's anger was radiating off of the ceiling. "And we" Stefan emphasized the group, "cannot kill a baby". Caroline rolled her eyes. Tyler was out of his mind angry. Wanting to kill a baby that is not even born yet is insanity, even if the baby could create hybrids…. Caroline burst out of her seat, then paused and took calm careful steps into the living room. Confusion covered her face as she stared at Tyler. "How do you know?"

He looked at her confused, pissed off, he shook his head, "She told me Care, I saw her"!

"No. How do you know that the baby's blood will create hybrids?"

Tyler didn't like that question. His lips pursed together, clenched his jaw, and he stared at Caroline.

"I mean, its not even born yet. How would you know? You're asking us to go kill a girl, or her baby or whatever based on a theory?" Tyler did not respond. "Why are you so certain? You seem to be so," she paused anger starting to drip from her own lips, "sure of yourself".

"Someone told me".

"So what? I could tell you that Klaus' blood creates unicorns and makes baby dwarfs fly through the air and it wouldn't mean anything!" She took a deep, not calming, but necessary breath. "How do you know that this unborn child you are so set on murdering can create hybrids?"

His eyes glared back. The room was waiting with pregnant anticipation. "Because I turned a wolf into a hybrid with the baby's blood." his shoulders sagged, eyes softened as he waited for the outburst from someone. There was silence.

Caroline started shaking. She brought her fists together, manicured nails digging into her palms and had to spit her words out between clenched teeth. "And how did you get the baby's blood before it was born?"

Tyler look down at his own hands, as if contemplating the blood on them, but the turned his head upwards defiantly, "I used a syringe and got the blood from Hailey".

Caroline let out a breath, "So you stuck a needle into a woman's womb in order to test the _possibility _of…. What," she raised her arms in a shrug and slammed them against her thighs.

"I checked the possibility that he could make more hybrids!"

"And that was worth the risk?" She exclaimed incredulous at this man who used to be her lover. The man she knew would not have been so careless with an infant. A baby. Or maybe he would. Did she ever really know him? He was always so distant. There one day, gone the next. They shared a transformation together, they were baby vamps and weres and hybrids together. It seems as though it was a lifetime ago. When she was that stupid young cheerleader and he was the douchebag jock. Now that they have finished becoming, these two former lovers stood miles apart. They stared at one another for what seemed an eternity.

They weren't together anymore, but it didn't sink in to Caroline until this moment that Tyler, her Tyler was gone. Someone who was power hungry, angry and desperate replaced him. Tyler had nothing to lose, he would attack Klaus, his child, his…. She didn't want to think about what Hayley was to Klaus, but Tyler would attack her too. He was empty now, a shell of himself, and that is not who she is. She is strong, and fearless, and above all smart. She knows that she sees the world with a little more perk than her friends, but that does not mean she is not smart. And she knows that attacking Klaus, attacking him for any reason is stupid. So, as she waited for Tyler's response to her ever-present question, she knew that his answer was going to determine a lot of things for her. If he was apologetic she could plead his case to Klaus. But no matter what, there is going to be a choice involved in this conversation.

"Yes. Absolutely. I would do it again. "

And that settles it. "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not going have any type of hand in this. In fact, I am not going to be present for any more of this" she moves into the room completely and picks up her purse. Before she leaves, she turns her head towards the group. "I hope that I do not have to be the one to remind you that we killed two of Klaus' brothers, tricked him into murdering his hybrids after we broke their loyalty to him, we've locked him in rooms as we plot his demise, and we are all culpable in that. So he may be the devil, and he may have done terrible things, but we are not the only people with a score to settle. Let's remember that, before we plan to take something else from the most powerful man on the planet."

And she walked away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as she exits the house Caroline swooshes away as fast as she can. When she finds herself in her room, she flops down onto the bed and stares at the ceiling. Her eyes close and she thinks about the last time she was lying down. Could it really only have been hours ago?

_His lips softly brushed the base of her neck and she arched towards him in her desire to be touched. A soft moan escaped her lips when he dutifully complied with her silent wishes. His eyes drew up towards her face as his hand slid lower on her body, passing over her ribs, her stomach and down to the tops of her jeans which he unsnapped and slid off of her long legs in a moment, giving her no time to protest. And for once, for just this once, she wouldn't. She would give into these desires that have been and will continue to plague her for centuries to come. So when he looked into her eyes asking for permission to continue, she reached up to his face and kissed him like she never wanted to stop. _

UGH! Her mind screamed at her to stop reminiscing on time since passed. She was not going to dwell, she was going to move forward, like she always did. But moving forward right now seemed to need something extra, it needed an activity to distract her from her thoughts. She sat up and looked around her childhood room. It absolutely seems childish now, she thought, it seems dated, like a room not made for who she is today. She looked past her computer, her awards from various high school activities, all signs of her past accomplishments that seemed so far away. Her eyes fell upon her credit card sitting by the computer, and she jumped up. Shopping, that's something to do.

The mall was near empty due to the late hour of the night. The department store was still open for another hour but the managers were already closing registers, and letting people leave early. It was a quiet night; it gave Caroline her privacy. She walked slowly through the racks looking for something to catch her eye. It seemed that nothing was interesting, nothing looked good, and she didn't pick up one piece of clothing to try on. Her fingertips grazed the fabric as she walked through the aisles; she wasn't even really looking at anything, just thinking about Klaus.

She found no luck near the accessories either. No earrings screamed buy me. No scarves were worth wearing. She was adrift in a sea of consumerism with nothing to buy. After about twenty minutes of this wandering she gave up and walked towards the exit of the store, at a few turns something would catch her eye and she would pause to look for a minute, before finding some flaw in the design.

She didn't even realize where she was when she put hand out to feel the texture of ribbons. She looked down and saw that's exactly what she was feeling; it was headbands for infants, with little bows on the top. She smiled at the thought of herself wearing those almost eighteen years before. She walked through the baby clothes, smiling at the tiny shoes and socks, and looking at the beautiful christening gowns and Christmas dresses.

She paused for a minute at the onesies, the outfits for newborns, the really tiny stuff. She giggled at the inscriptions, cute little sayings and depictions from children's novels. She paused as she came across a pink so pale that it was almost white. A girl, Tyler said that it's a girl. She lifted the bodysuit from beneath the other folded options. This one was different, the last in stock. She unfolded the tiny article of clothing and saw the inscription embroidered onto the fabric. _Daddy's Little Girl. _She thought of Klaus, this horribly complicated man who is alone in the world. A father, he is going to be a father with…. not her. She felt a tear fall slowly down her cheek. She quickly brushed it away and brought the onesie to the checkout counter. The woman at the checkout smiled at her purchase.

"Is this for you?"

Caroline was startled at the question and paused. She hadn't even realize she was buying it.

"No, it's for a friend…. Actually can I have a box to go with that?"

She left the department store a bit dazed by her own purchase. When she got home she looked into shipping packages to New Orleans. She put the gift in the box and stared at it. She knew she wanted to send the item to him somehow, but it needed something else.

"Okay, Caroline", she prompted herself, "you can do this." And she put a pen to paper.

_Dear Klaus, _

_Congratulations! Wow! I just wanted to send you…_

No. That's terrible. Start over.

_Dear Klaus, _

_heard about you and Hayley. Congratulations! This baby is a blessing…._

Wow, this is hard. How can she both sound not jealous and incredulous at the same time? She gets up and gets a blood bag from her fridge. Hopefully this will be easier on a full stomach. She takes three long drags from her straw. And sits back down. Honesty might make this easier.

_Klaus, _

_I am writing this, only hours after we parted ways in the woods. I want to begin by saying that this is not an invitation to renege on your promise; I still don't want you to come back to Mystic Falls. But our deal was that I give you my confession, and I have something else to say. _

_Admitting that I wanted you was not about finding the darkest parts of myself. I do not have to find the worst part of me in order to want you. It's easier when you are gone, when you are doing terrible things, for me to push down the desire I have for you. That same desire builds up when you smile only for me. When you draw me pictures of horses, when you dance with me, and save me from the evil of the world. In those moments it is almost impossible for me to deny my feelings for you, and in those moments neither of us are at our darkest. _

_I found out about Hayley, and the baby. It's shocking news for me to hear, so I am sure that you are dealing with your own kind of wonderment right now. Do you ever do anything simply, Klaus? You really are one of a kind. _

_I don't know how you feel about it, but I know that parenthood is something vampires give up on. We trade the opportunity of procreation for an eternity of youth. It's my one regret, about vampirism, that in the next ten or twenty years I will not experience motherhood. You were right about me, I like being ageless; fearless. I like being a vampire but, when I heard about your child, there was a part of me that wished for humanity. A part of me dreamed that I could have that kind of potential. It hurt more, I think, because Hayley is the mother of your child. She is… tricky. I don't particularly like her, but I am happy you're standing by her during her pregnancy. Many men wouldn't. _

_You have a chance here Klaus. A chance to have what no other vampire in history can have. A Child. A perfect combination of you. I have said some terrible things about you in the past but I don't think the devil would ever be granted a gift like that. _

_I definitely don't know everything about you, or parenthood, but let me try to give you some advice for things you might need help with. 1. Give Hayley, and eventually your daughter, space. Women do not like to be lorded over, and you are the King of pushing boundaries. Protect them. Don't smother them. 2. Loving someone, especially your child, is not a weakness. It is strength. Other people will find out about your child and want to use that against you. The only way to protect yourself is to find people you trust and lean on them. Stop daggering your siblings! They are your biggest assets. Originals are formidable. You are stronger as a team. 3. Learn to forgive. This one will take a while, but you can get there. It takes a long time to trust and give loyalties but people will be more willing to give you their trust if they know that mistakes will not be met with the death penalty. If you are having trouble gaining trust, try giving up a little of yourself first, it is easier to get people to trust you if you trust them. _

_This gift caught my eye at the store and I knew it would apply to your daughter. I hope your baby girl will have you wrapped around her finger. In a few short months you will be drowning in baby gifts. I wanted mine to get there first. _

_Ever Yours, _

_Caroline _

Over 800 miles away, and a few days later, Niklaus Mikaelson arrived home to see a package waiting for him in the front room. He warily approached the box and saw the return address: Mystic Falls. He wondered for a moment if this was some type of bomb, or a request for assistance from the ever-plagued tenants of the Salvatore Boarding house, but then another thought occurred to him. The thought had blonde hair that flowed down perfect shoulders. He reached out and brought the box into his study.

He set the box on the bar and poured himself a drink. His peeled a layer of packaging tape off and opened it to see a letter atop a second box, this one was from a department store. He wondered what could possibly be in it. Propriety yielded to curiosity and he opened the gift before reading the card. He shouldn't have. Caroline's letter would have revealed to him slowly that she knew about the baby, in words it would not have been so detrimental. He was struck by her gift. As every emotion there has ever been crashed over his body, he settled on something akin to desperate longing and confusion. Longing for what, he didn't know, but it was something powerful. Perhaps she would give the answers in her letter.

Several hours later Klaus was still in his study nursing a glass of ancient scotch. He had a small piece of fabric sitting on his right leg. He could not stop staring at it. He had set the letter down after his first hour and a half of silent contemplation. The letter said a lot of things; things Caroline wanted or needed to say, but the gift was something else. It warranted a response; he could not imagine what it took Caroline to do this, or if she at all understood what she had done when she sent that tiny article of clothing. She was giving him her blessing. He didn't expect to be graced with the moments they shared in the woods, and that was a special, perfect moment, but this is more. She was accepting him in a way no one had ever done before. With all of the facts, she hadn't turned away, she hadn't come running either, but this was a start. He set down his glass and picked up his phone.

_Caroline, Thank you. This gift means more to me than you know. My offer still stands, as does my promise. I will not return to Mystic Falls, but perhaps one day you'll join me. _

She was asleep when her phone softly vibrated next to her. She opened the text without looking for who sent it. Her eyes barely opened as she read the four simple sentences. A small smile crossed her lips and she drifted off to dream of wolves.

**A/N: I've never done this before so I want to say thank you to all of my followers. It's really heartening to see everyone who is responding to my story. I have four + chapters written so far. I will be updating, as of right now, every few days. This chapter and the next are chapters that I needed to transition Caroline into going to New Orleans. She will get there I promise. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Over the next week, Caroline walked aimlessly through the moments of her life. She did not spend time dwelling on Klaus or his baby, she lived life like a normal college girl. She went to class, attended parties, added decorations to her dorm. Living with Bonnie and Elena was what she always wanted, but she found more and more that she craved time alone. She couldn't talk to them, not about Klaus, or even about college. They both seem to be reluctant to participate in the human experience. The girls were more involved in the supernatural aspects of their lives.

Caroline and Elena were sitting in their dorm on their respective beds. Bonnie was off with Jeremy somewhere doing God knows what. Caroline was badgering Elena to get into gear again.

"You have a paper due tomorrow, Elena. You need to work on it." Elena rolled her eyes at Caroline's mothering. "And why do I know your schedule better than you do?"

"Caroline, I just don't feel like doing this right now."

"What, your paper?"

"No, college. We've spent so much time being attacked and grieving our losses. I just want to take some time to myself without any extra stressors."

"College isn't an extra big stress. This isn't Silas bringing back the dead, or witches coming to kill us all, or—"

"Or Klaus having a baby with another woman?" said Elena, acknowledging an elephant in the room.

"Wh—I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do Care. Klaus was obsessed with you and now he's living his life with someone else. I know you feel like he played you."

Caroline was taken aback by Elena's assumption. "Klaus didn't play me."

"Caroline its okay, it happens to the –"

"He didn't play me, Elena! I knew what I was doing."

"Okay, what were you doing?"

"I—just—never mind. I don't even know why were talking about him."

"I think that we all need to take some time" Elena said switching the topic away from Klaus, "maybe college is getting in the way of that right now. We need a mental health month. I feel like we've all earned it."

"So you're dropping out for the rest of the semester? Do you think that's a good plan for your future?"

"Caroline, we're vampires. We have eternity. We can go to college now, or five years from now or a hundred years from now. You don't need to rush your life."

But she did, she needed to move faster. She shook her head and turned away from Elena, effectively ending their conversation. Something told her that she was ticking. She knew that she had forever, yet she was moving at warped speed. All she could think about was experiencing as much life as she could right now. Strangely, she also knew that she wasn't moving towards her demise. In fact, wherever she was going, she was excited to get there. When she thinks of the future she feels, elated, expectant, hopeful. That future is not at college, its not in Virginia. The time was soon coming when she would leave this place behind. Knowing that, missing out on anything happening in Mystic Falls feels unacceptable. Leaving her family and friends behind; that's something she could never do. "I owe them too much," she thought.

Elena rolled over on her bed and waited for Caroline to acknowledge her. When Caroline turned towards her friend Elena sighed, "Care, its okay to want to move on. A lot has happened here. I need some space from everything. So do Damon and Stefan. Maybe you do too."

"Yeah. Maybe" she said quietly. The silence that followed was filled with the tension of a room that's thinking. She knew that Elena was also trying to plan out the next few weeks of her life. They each used that time trying to figure out where to go from here. It took only two more days for her to realize her path, the one she had probably chosen weeks prior.

Tyler Lockwood was at the grill. He still hadn't left Mystic Falls or abandoned his plan to terminate the supernatural pregnancy of a girl he once trusted. There was no help from the people who he used to call his friends. They had all sided with Caroline and Stefan. But that didn't matter. His wolf pack was meeting him here in order to plan their attack. He knew it was safe to be here, Matt wouldn't divulge his secrets, and everyone else was off at Whitmore. He was safe. "Okay, this is what we are doing," he began relaying his plans. Telling each of the wolves where they would need to be positioned, who they would take out. There were very few vampires in New Orleans with daylight rings so the attack would be met without the cover of darkness. And it needed to be perfect in order to work.

Unbeknownst to Tyler, Sheriff Forbes sat quietly in the corner of the very same restaurant. Meals without her daughter were lonely, and she enjoyed being surrounded by people when she was eating. Today's meal however was less enjoyable. Tyler was planning a move against Klaus. She did not want to lose her daughter to that man's madness. There is no sense in taking on a vampire that powerful. Her daughter could not be involved in this, could she? Even if Tyler was planning revenge, she needs Caroline to know it's not worth it. The Sheriff sets her money on the table and walks outside the restaurant. She opens her phone and calls her daughter. "Caroline. We need to talk. Why don't you come home for the weekend?"

Home would be nice right now, Caroline thought to herself as she listened to her mother's message. It would give her time to think about what Elena had said. She quickly packs a few of her belongings into a bag, and then whooshes into the night.

"Hey mom what's up?" Caroline asks as she walks into her house. Her mother is sitting at their kitchen table she looks up at her daughter and gestures towards the seat across from her. She looked at the woman who raised her and felt a lecture coming on, "Okay, clearly you want to talk about something."

"Do you want some coffee" Liz Forbes gets up and pours two mugs of hot coffee for her and her vampire daughter. Caroline sits down, and before she can begin to ask what her mother is so upset about the sheriff offers an explanation.

"I want to talk to you about whatever you're planning with Tyler."

Caroline looks up at her mother confused. Liz sits down and continues, "its not worth it Caroline."

"Mom. What are you talking about?"

"I don't understand this at all, I thought you and Klaus had a truce. Why would you decide to attack him?"

"I'm not attacking Klaus, why do you think I am planning something against Klaus?"

"I overheard Tyler—"

"What? Where? What did he say?"

"At The Grill," The sheriff was confused, she was sure her daughter would be involved. "He was planning something with a group of people. He was instructing them on where to be stationed, which men to take out. I heard him say something about a girl, I just assumed it was you."

Caroline let out a large sigh, "No mom, he wasn't talking about me."

"Well, either way Caroline, I do not want you involved in any more of this. Do not put yourself in unnecessary danger. Tyler shouldn't be doing it either, but I am not his mother. "

Caroline felt panic, for who she could not say, "Mom, you're an officer of the court, can't you do something to stop Tyler? Isn't that your job?"

Liz smiled, sometimes Caroline still thinks of her as Wonder Woman. "You want me to lock up a supernatural hybrid? I think you and I both know that would never work."

"But I can't just sit by and let Tyler attack Klaus' ba— family. All of the Originals are together now. Klaus will kill Tyler."

"Tyler is making a choice Caroline. He is doing what he believes is right. I don't particularly agree with him but we can't stop him."

Caroline thought about Tyler and Klaus, those two stupid headstrong hybrids. Nothing seemed to stop them when they set a plan in motion. Nothing except…

"You can't stop them, Mom. But I can."

"Caroline, no." Liz Forbes shook her head. She could not believe her daughters reaction to this.

Caroline was already standing up and moving towards her bag. She couldn't even remember what she had packed for her trip home. Looking inside she saw two pairs of jeans, a few t-shirts and a jacket. Underneath that is makeup and a hairbrush with three hair ties wrapped around the handle. Caroline closes the bag and looks up at her mother.

"Mom, I have to go," before her mother can object, Caroline continues, "Tyler won't hurt me and I have to warn Klaus about this, I have to make sure he won't kill Tyler."

"And what about Klaus. He can hurt you."

"He can't hurt me the way you think he can."

**A/N: Okay this is my least favorite chapter I have written so far. And that is not me searching for compliments or negating compliments, I just feel like this chapter is a mega filler, and it gives Caroline a reason to leave, but I also feel like its static. More action in the next one I swear. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

In hindsight, she should have flown. The drive was only 12 hours, a straight shot down I-85, but every minute was spent wondering if she was too late. It is possible that Tyler is not going to attack today. They could still be planning and not arriving for another day or two, but what if they aren't and Caroline shows up just after the slaughter?

Klaus could kill her, he could think she was involved and he would not hesitate to rip her heart out of her chest. His baby would absolutely trump her on the pillar of importance. Either way she had to try. She needed to get to Klaus before Tyler did.

She also needed blood. It's what she had forgotten to pack. She made sure she had enough clothes but not enough blood. Caroline took a moment to ponder her still new vampire being. She hates that she can still forget things, that there is still a necessity in her life that so defines her. She could stop at a hospital along the road to steal some blood bags but then, once again, she could be too late to warn Klaus. Her only hope was that Klaus had some blood on reserve. She stepped on the gas, the gauge on her speedometer inched towards 90mph. Caroline had hit a point where she could not tell if she was starving or tired or nervous. She just knew she needed to get to New Orleans.

The time passed slowly while she was driving in the car. The sun had set somewhere around Georgia and the road seemed endless in the dark. Caroline's whole body perked as she saw the sign telling her to exit for the city of New Orleans. She pulled off of the highway and began to navigate the streets of the city finding herself, for the first time, in a place that was unfamiliar to her. She had never really left Mystic Falls.

She pulled up to Bourbon Street, parked and moved out into the night. When she saw the street crawling with vamps she knew she had pulled up in the right area. Klaus would be here.

She left her car with her bag in it. She was hungry and tired, but continued on her mission. She walked towards a bar on the edge of the street, assuming that Klaus would like a nightcap in New Orleans just like he did in Mystic Falls. She was halfway there when a group of vampires took notice of her. They asked her where she was from, and her vampire senses heightened as she realized she was being surrounded.

Three vampires stood around her, One in front and one on each side of her tiny frame. The tallest one grabbed her and held tight as she tried to rip her hand away from his. "Where did you get that ring?" His fingers gripped her ring and moved to take it from her. This is the ring that gave her the daylight, and in lieu of loosing it Caroline pulled her other arm back and punched the vampire in the face.

Her arm was shaking slightly as if her muscles could not believe what she had done. But the vampire had reacted, his head flung back. "They're new," she thought, "they haven't been vampires as long as I have. Older means stronger." The other vampires moved in on her and she grabbed the one to her right and flung him into the one she just punched. She kicked out, defending herself against the third vampire in this little group of thugs and he flew back into the wall ten feet behind him. She took three steps back in order to brace herself from further attack, the vampires were already recovering and she felt that some distance would be to her advantage. On the third step she bumped into a hard body. Fuck, she thought, these bastards had another friend and he was right behind her.

Before she could turn around, she saw her attackers look up in fear. They did not move towards her again. The one who had grabbed her arm backed away while putting his hands up in a submissive gesture. "We were just talking to her," he stammered.

Caroline turned slowly around and her eyes opened in shock, "Elijah?"

"Why is it," said the Original ignoring the girl in front of him "that you are accosting a young girl for simply walking into the Quarter?"

"She has a daylight ring" this guy was clearly the groups spokesperson, "we were wondering how she got it. O-or who she is."

"Well," Elijah smiled and moved Caroline behind him, "let me explain." He walked towards the vampire calmly. "She is a friend of my family, and she" his hand jutted into the vampires chest, "is off limits." he ripped the heart that had been beating in his hand out of the vampire's ribcage. He turned back towards her.

"Hello, Miss Forbes. Welcome to the French Quarter."

She stood there in shock at the spectacle in front of her. The vampires who approached her quickly fled the scene. Others present were looking to see what had happened. Most of them were intelligent enough to run once they saw Elijah was involved. He walked quickly over to Caroline and took her arm. "Come with me."

They moved deftly through the street and took several turns. Caroline knew she would have to walk around for a while in order to find her car again. Elijah had yet to let go of her arm and it was starting to smart at the pressure. He made a sharp turn and pulled her into a building. "My dear, we have very little time before my brother is aware of your presence so you will answer me quickly. Why have you come to New Orleans?"

"I came- wait, what? Where are we? I need to see Klaus." Elijah was looking at her like she was someone out to get him. He towered over her. She was a tall girl, but around him she felt tiny. She shrunk in the presence of his experience; his age alone made her seem small.

Caroline shook away her feelings of inadequacy and readjusted her posture. Standing tall, she met Elijah's gaze, "I came here to speak to Klaus. So, you can either bring me to your brother or you can think about this moment a few days from now and think 'Gee, maybe I should have listened to Caroline' because you all want to know what I have to say, and I am only saying it to Klaus."

He stared her down in deep contemplation. What could this girl know that would be of such value? Niklaus would be upset with him if he hurt her. He would be upset if he knew this conversation was happening. The Original gave her a half smile. "Fine, I will bring you to Niklaus, but let me make myself clear. If you being here is, in any way, a plot to hurt Hayley or my brother what happened to the man in the square will seem like a small spat in comparison to the hell I unleash upon you."

She looked up at him behind her lashes and nodded once. There was no question in her mind; he was speaking truthfully. Elijah is noble, but that does not make him less of a threat. It makes him more terrifying. This man keeps his word, and he would not hesitate to kill her.

When she inclined her head, Elijah once again grabbed her arm, "I can follow you myself, without you dragging me along." He stopped, looked at her, then nodded and released her from his grasp. This must be why Klaus likes her, he thought; she is almost adorable in her defiance. And he walked into the night with a blond baby vampire following behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Caroline followed Elijah quickly throughout the streets of the French Quarter. She started to speak wanting to ask him to take her back to her car so that she could retrieve her bag, but thought better of it and held her tongue. Elijah's long strides were hard to keep up with and she found herself having to add a little skip to her step every once in a while in order to keep up. A few streets later they turned and moved into a more residential neighborhood. Caroline was not surprised, although still in awe of the mansion Elijah brought her to. She was standing in front of a fortress, something that must have at least 70 rooms. It screamed Klaus.

They doors creaked ominously when opened and Elijah moved Caroline into a sitting room. "Niklaus will be in sometime in the next hour, you may talk to him then."

Caroline was flabbergasted, "No, I need to talk to him now, I thought you were bringing me to him."

"Well you see Miss Forbes" –Caroline interrupted him, "Call me Caroline." Elijah smiles, "Caroline. It is simply safer for you to be brought here and have Niklaus come to you. If I were to bring you to him you would be surrounded by vampires and witches."

"Uh, Hello, I am a Vampire!"

"Vampires and witches who do not have any loyalties towards Niklaus. I do not know what your relationship is to my brother but I do know that other people might want to use it to their advantage. This is the Mikaelson home. You are safe here."

Caroline thought about it, Tyler had said he was attacking during the day and there were still several hours left of night. If Klaus came back in the next hour then they would have plenty of time to plan safety measures for the baby. She conceded to Elijah's point, she could not help anyone if she wasn't safe.

"Okay, but I really need to talk to Klaus."

"Of course."

"Then thank you for bringing me here, and thank you for what you did in the square."

"It was nothing Caroline, I have some business to attend to. Will you be alright here on your own?"

"Yeah, don't let me keep you."

"I will be upstairs if you need anything." Caroline nodded in understanding.

When Elijah left the room she was in she snooped around. She was in a room with two oversized chairs in front of a fireplace. The small pile of wood glowed bright embers that were begging to be stoked. She placed another log on the fire and moved the embers around with the fire iron. When the wood caught light she added another few logs to keep the flames going for a while. She sat down on one of the chairs, flung her legs over the armrest of the chair and got her phone out of her pocket.

She had several messages from her mother, which she ignored, and one from Elena asking her where she was. She quickly replied, telling her she was in Mystic Falls for the weekend and she would be back Monday. She knew at least half of that message was a lie. She did not really know what this trip would bring her but she also didn't want to worry Elena. She had just clicked send when the door burst open.

"Hey Elijah where did my—Oh…hello."

Caroline had expected to see her, but not in this capacity. Not before she had seen Klaus. She looked at Hayley and then moved her eyes down to the young girls stomach where there was an unmistakable bump. Hayley's hand moved protectively to her own belly, "what are you doing here?" the pregnant girl inquired.

Caroline realized that the girl was a little frightened of her, maybe not completely scared, but wary nonetheless. She relished a little in that fear, and then felt immediately guilty for scaring a pregnant girl. "I'm just here to see Klaus," she said, not wanting to give anything away. She knew that only Klaus would trust that she had nothing to do with Tyler's plan. She couldn't trust anyone else with that information.

"He's not here right now, can I take a message?" the werewolf girl remarked, trying to get Caroline to leave quickly. But Caroline was not having any of that..

"Elijah brought me here, Hayley. So, I am welcome until a Mikaelson tells me to leave. And you are no Mikaelson." Caroline stood up determined. "You were looking for Elijah when you came in, he's upstairs." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

She thought of this girl who betrayed them to Silas, who slept with Klaus. And all of a sudden, Caroline felt weary with anger. The anger she felt for Hayley was exhausting. She didn't own Klaus, and while she did not like Hayley, she had no energy to fight with her tonight. Another time, she thought, then sighed, "Listen Hayley, I know we have issues with one another, but we do not have to do this now. It's late, I just drove for some 12 odd hours and I'm exhausted. Can we set whatever this is aside for now?"

Hayley considered the proposition then nodded, "That's fine, I don't do high school drama anyways," She smiled superior.

"I think that baby has taken this past high school drama, don't you?"

Hayley nodded, "Yeah," she half laughed, "I guess she does."

When Hayley turned to leave Caroline remembered, "Don't trust Tyler, okay?"

Hayley turned back and stared at Caroline. For a moment these two women seemed to understand one another and felt unwanted familiarity. "Yeah, I learned that the hard way." Hayley intimated.

"Me too," Caroline replied and sat back in her chair. Hayley left and Caroline's head hit the back of her chair as she was hit by total exhaustion.

By the time Klaus returned to his home, Caroline was fast asleep on the armchair in front of a still roaring fire. He walked right passed the room she was in, unaware of her presence and took the stairs two at a time to confront Elijah.

"What is this I hear," he said as he walked into his elder brother's office, "about you killing a vampire in the square?"

"Hello Niklaus, it is nice to see you too." Elijah looked up from the papers he was reading on his deck.

"So, tell me. Who is this mystery woman whom you fought so bravely for?"

Elijah looked up and smiled, enjoying the moment, "Caroline Forbes."

Klaus' curiosity quickly changed to anger. He walked swiftly toward his brother who leaned back in his chair a smile still plastered to his face.

"What?"

"Why I was just helping our young friend from Mystic Falls. She showed up in the quarter and seemed to need my assistance."

Klaus leaned over his brother coming within inches of his face. "If you have done anything to her, I will—"

"Niklaus calm down, after I stopped the vampires in the square from accosting your young vampire, I brought her here."

"She's here" Klaus restated, shocked by what his brother was telling him.

"Yes, apparently she has to tell you something that is very important, and I did not want to bring her to Marcel's attention."

"Good," Klaus moved away from his brother. "If she's here, where is she?" he demanded.

Elijah almost smiled at his brother's insistence, "I put her in the front room. I am surprised that she didn't stop you when you walked in. She seemed… anxious to see you."

Klaus darkened at that, "Perhaps, dear brother, she was anxious because of an Original Vampire killing someone in front of her."

"I don't like what your insinuating, Niklaus, I assure you I was nothing but pleasant to the girl."

"That had better be true, Elijah." Elijah just rolled his eyes at his brother's half threat and let Klaus storm off in anger.

Klaus flew into the hallway. He paused on the landing and looked down to the room where Caroline Forbes awaited. He wondered why she had come, why she hadn't burst into Elijah's room to talk to him, if she had something important to say. He wondered a lot of things when it came to Caroline.

He walked downstairs and into the sitting room. He softened at the sight of this woman. She was curled up in an armchair, her knees brought to her chest, and her head was tilted and resting on the back of the chair. It was hard to see her eyes because her hair fell across her face, but it was clear she was sleeping soundly. Klaus weighed his options. He could awaken her, to find out why she was here, or even to pick up where they had left off weeks before in the woods. He could leave her there, but even as a vampire she would feel the crick in her neck the following day. He walked over to her deftly and put his one arm beneath her curled knees, the other supported her back. He lifted her from her perch and moved her quickly to his own room. He set her softly on his bed, removing the jacket from her body. He did not continue to remove her garments. He could already hear her anger at being disrobed without her consent. Even so he did remove the shoes from her feet and then pulled the quilt back in order to settle her comfortably beneath blankets.

On his way out, Klaus turned to look at this girl who had so captivated him. He moved back towards her, pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. They would have time in the morning, and the days following to discuss her presence in New Orleans. It was something that continued to plague his mind as he shut the door behind him, swiftly moved into another room, and fell into one of the guest bedrooms king size beds. His time in New Orleans had been unsettling so far, causing him much trouble and sleepless nights, but tonight Klaus would rest soundly knowing that Caroline Forbes was in his bed.

**A/N: **

**I decided to update this right away in response to receiving 100 followers! I am really happy that people are liking this story. I have never done this before and the reception is wonderful. **

**I do want to comment on something my reviewers have asked: The baby is Klaus'. I know that means I will probably lose a few followers, but I look at the pregnancy storyline as a challenge. Can I get Klaus and Caroline together with all of the obstacles that couples face, that Klaus and Caroline face, AND a baby on top of that. And I don't just mean together: hooking up. I want them to last. So that is why I set out to write this. I love Klaus and Caroline and I think that the baby can be a really good thing for Klaus. Elijah said something like this on the show, and I ****believe that Klaus needs unconditional love, he needs to feel it, and a baby can give him that feeling. So this story is about: Can Caroline, with all of her goodness, find it in herself to be apart of a man's life while he is having/has a baby with another woman. Its going to be a struggle on both Klaus' and Caroline's parts, but I think they can get there.**

**P.S. Please Review! I really enjoy constructive criticism, let me know what you think.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I had a few requests for longer chapters so I am trying it out. Please Review!**

A ray of sunlight streamed down through open curtains and onto Caroline's face the morning after her ride to New Orleans, her meeting with Elijah, her somewhat truce with Hayley. She rolled her whole body over, pushing her face into the pillows and blankets that surrounded her.

It only took a moment more, to realize that she had not slept where she had fallen the night before. She flipped back over, looking quickly around the room, before patting her body down and feeling that, yes, she was still wearing pants, a shirt, and a now horribly uncomfortable bra. She quickly unhooked the mounded fabric and rubbed her ribcage where the underwire had dug into her skin.

She was in Klaus' room, that much was evident. There was an easel over by the window with one of his expressionist paintings; there were long dark streaks of black on this one, he had been angry while painting it. She found herself selfishly wondering if he had painted it before or after their day in the woods.

She sat in a king size bed belonging to a man who both terrified and tormented her. She needed to tell Klaus about Tyler, but now that she was here, the reluctance of a more cowardly Caroline set in. "I will get out of bed on the count of three. One. two. three." And she pushed the comforter back swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood soundly on the floor. "Deep breaths, Caroline" she said to herself, and she walked towards the sounds of people below.

She opened a set of closed French doors on the main floor of the house to an array of breakfast foods and her reason for traveling to New Orleans fell away to her need for food, or more realistically, her need for blood. Her stomach growled and she quickly said good morning to Elijah who was reading the newspaper at the far end of the table. He returned the pleasantry and told her to help herself. She dove at the food like a woman crazed, hoping that chocolate croissants would tide over her need for blood.

That wasn't necessary because as she was moving from pastries to eggs a champagne flute with a generous amount of blood was set in front of her. She turned abruptly and saw Klaus standing behind her.

"I thought you might be hungry for something with a little more sustainability, love". He smiled at her and gestured towards her drink.

Caroline was slightly taken aback by his presence. He had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, but decided to move her emotions to suspicions of the offer. She gets her blood from blood bags, Klaus' comes from humans and she didn't like the idea of consuming blood that was taken forcefully. But her eyes began to darken and she knew that she was, at this moment, too hungry to care. The blood was warm, delicious as it slid down her throat. She closed her eyes in silent appreciation. Then took a deep breath and looked at him.

He stood before her, no different from the man who made love to her in the woods, yet recognizable still as the man who had slain friends whom she'd loved. The silent complexities of their relationship sat between them as they stared, her, seated, looking up, him gazing down.

She broke the stare to glance towards where Elijah was sitting moments before but he had since left the room. She looked back up at Klaus and smiled, "Thank you," she said, "I needed that."

He continued to look at her, unable to find words, which makes sense, she never knew what to say whenever he showed up unannounced. She relished in his inability to find words. For once, she had rendered him speechless.

She stood up, suddenly nervous and tongue-tied; "I need to talk to you about Tyler. Well about Hayley and about Tyler. About Tyler and Hayley. What Tyler is going to do to Hayley, well not Hayley so much, the baby," she babbled and continued to babble until Klaus grabbed her arms and forced her to sit on the chair she had occupied. He knelt down in front of her until she stopped talking then moved into the chair next to her.

"Take a deep breathe love," he calmed her, "now what is Tyler going to do?"

"Okay," Caroline started again, regaining her bearings and remembering her purpose, "I came her to tell you; Tyler is going to do something so stupid."

"I had ascertained as much when he picked revenge over you," Klaus intimated. "I have been prepared for Tyler's attack on me for quite some time."

Caroline shook her head, "Okay two problems with that. 1. I do not want Tyler's death to be your solution to his actions. And 2. He is not preparing to attack you, he wants to attack Hayley, he is going to," she paused trying to find the least disgusting way to describe Tyler's plan for revenge, "end her pregnancy."

Klaus' expression gave nothing away, but his eyes drifted off, he was strategizing, finding his next plan of attack. She grabbed his face between her palms and forced him to look at her, "I need your promise that you will not kill Tyler".

Klaus looked away from her. It was too much to hope in the small hours of the night that she had come here for him, and she had delivered the expectant disappointment fruitfully. "I don't know if I can do that love. If what your saying is true than this will be the second time that your dear Tyler has tried to take the life of my child. If he does plan to just keep coming back time and time again it will be quite the load off of my shoulders to end the poor boy's life."

Klaus stood up and looked down again, upon this girl, this time with hostility in his eyes. People are so disappointing. But of course, she wouldn't come here for him. It is always Tyler. He left her in the room livid with her betrayal. When he walked out of the room Hayley immediately accosted him. "Not now, little Wolf," he nearly screamed, but she followed him anyway.

"Look, Klaus," she said not showing a hint of fear at the Originals shaking figure, "I don't trust her, I don't like that she's here."

"I don't really care."

"Klaus, how can you trust her, she's not here for you! I believe her when she says that Tyler is going to try to kill me again—"

"Someone's been eavesdropping, very polite, some parenting you had." He smile at his own joke and sat down in his office chair, "Oh, wait…"

Deflecting the sting about her parentage, Hayley charged on, "Caroline is probably here as a distraction. She is helping the love of her life kill the man who has terrorized her and the baby he's having with another women. And then she is going to run off into the sunset with him."

Klaus looked sideways at Hayley, "Go away now, little Wolf." Hayley's description of events was not far off from his own ideas about Caroline's presence. She did ask for the boy's life after all.

"Don't be naïve, Klaus." She said as she stormed out of his office.

Klaus continued to sit in his desk trying to find every angle of the foreboding threat. Unbeknownst to him, his brother had ideas of his own and if keeping Hayley safe meant confronting the little vampire that Klaus was so infatuated with, so be it.

When Klaus had left Caroline in the dining room she sat stunned by his response, then winced openly when she heard that Klaus had a nickname for the woman carrying his child. She wondered if there was a part of him that wished she were a wolf like him. They had so many differences, his term of endearment for Hayley served as a reminder that they weren't even of the same species.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't see Elijah enter the room. He stood opposite her, the massive oak dining table between them. "I had hoped," he began which startled Caroline out of her thoughts, "that you understood what I meant last night when I told you I would not tolerate a threat to Hayley."

"I did," she queried.

"Then why do you seem to be involved in some plot with my brother's hybrid to harm her?"

"I'm not."

"Caroline, you might have my brother wrapped around your finger but I know a ploy when I see one. There is very little you could do or say to me in order to make me believe that you would come here out of the goodness of your heart in order to offer assistance to your competition."

Caroline scoffed, "my competition?"

"Yes, quite frankly, Hayley is carrying the child of the man you… well you don't even know what he is to you so I am not going to speculate here… she is your competition. I have lived for a thousand years and believe me when I say that when women are causing harm to other women, there is always a man involved."

"I am not here to harm anyone." Caroline shouted and stood tall, fed up with this Original bullshit. Cool one minute hot the next, and she has no time for it. "I came here to warn Klaus about the attack on Hayley. I did that because I believe that nothing Hayley has done to me, or Tyler, or anyone, should affect the life of Klaus' child. I believe that it's just a baby." She sighed exasperated, and nearly begged, "It could be his chance, Elijah."

Surprised by her response, Elijah softened; he had once said something similar. That baby was a chance for Klaus to have a family. Perhaps, to Caroline, it was a different chance, a chance that Klaus would or could admit to loving someone. Love is strangely transferable. The more love you have the more you want to give it away. His brother has spent too many years unloved, untrusting, and alone. Now there is a young vampire who seemed to understand not only that Klaus was a man broken, but that he was also mendable.

Elijah took another moment to decide upon his response. "You seem to have considerable loyalties when it comes to my brother, but I do not trust you with Hayley."

"Fine," Caroline retorted, angry that her motives could be considered treacherous. "It seems you all have everything under control here. I came here to tell you what was going to happen to Hayley, and I did. I asked Klaus for mercy for Tyler, so it seems my job here is done." She was going to walk towards the door before she realized she didn't have her shoes or jacket from the night before. She whooshed upstairs retrieved her belongings and as she was walking out the door she turned to Elijah and said, "hopefully we wont see each other for several centuries. Give Klaus my regards."

-CKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKC-

Klaus was sitting in his study brooding over the days events, wondering if it is really only eight o'clock, when he heard her yell at his brother, the front door opened and shut before he could begin to move.

Vampires move quickly, Originals move more quickly than that, and Hybrid Originals move faster than both, but until that moment when she was leaving, Klaus didn't know what speed was. He had never before felt the muscles in his body move with such agility. Until he heard her walking away, he had no purpose for action. With the opening of a door Klaus found a reason to feel desperation.

He was on her in less than a second, she hadn't even taken a step off of his front porch when he reached her, grabbed her by her shoulders and slammed her up against his front door. "DO NOT leave without giving me the satisfaction of your goodbye, Caroline." She immediately began struggling in his grasp.

His hands were gripping her so tight and the more she squirmed the tighter he squeezed. Her feet were not even touching the ground and she kicked out to try to loosen his grip, which failed utterly. She then aimed to make contact with his body, kicking towards his shins, when her boot connected with his knee he smiled in anger, and set her to the floor. Finally free from his clutches she smacked him in the face. "Do NOT lay a hand on me Klaus. I am leaving; I was in the process of leaving when you decided to scream in my face. I wasn't going to say goodbye because you just left me in your dining room without another word and I felt unwelcomed. But you want a goodbye? FINE, Good. Bye."

"You are not leaving until you tell me why you came here." Klaus demanded following after the girl who was walking away from him.

"Why did I come here?" She screamed and whipped around to face him. "I came here to tell you that someone was going to threaten your child's life. I came here to beg you, once again, to spare Tyler's life, I came here to make sure that there was no death in the Bayou today."

"Oh yes Tyler, of course we must save Tyler. That boy does nothing but run away from you. Why did you come here?" he insisted.

"I just TOLD you!" She screamed again.

He stared at her, there was no smile on his face, this was not a moment for flirting, or paintings of horses, this was anger, and betrayal, "You could have called me and told me all of those things love. Why did you come here?"

"I just—I thought—"

"Spit it out love."

"I DON'T KNOW" Caroline moved closer to him, yelling as she continued, "I heard about what Tyler was going to do and I just—" she broke, lowered her voices and looked into Klaus' eyes. "I just had to get to you before he did. I didn't want anything to happen to your child."

"Why?" he said, "Why would you come to help save the life of a woman who betrayed you? Why would send me a gift for the baby I am having with another woman?"

They were questions she had asked herself a thousand times since the day she placed the package in the mail, and a thousand more since she got on the road to New Orleans. The truth was, Caroline had no answer to that question. She could search the vast expanses of her mind and would not have the answer. So the silence hung between them, perpetuating the constant that was their relationship, silence, tension, waiting.

It could have been an hour or ten minutes or half a second. She neither knew nor cared. She just knew she was staring into the eyes of this man, and that was enough for now.

It took a deafening scream to break them out of their trance. Both of their necks snapped in the direction of the house and they ran simultaneously towards the sounds of Hayley's distress.

In the front room they saw a man towering over Hayley, she was curled in a ball in a corner. The man raised what looked like a knife into the air, and before Caroline or Klaus could make a move towards him six other men were between them and Hayley. Caroline turned to Klaus, "You take the others, I'll get Hayley."

Klaus didn't like the plan, he wasn't sure if he trusted Caroline with the life of the woman who was carrying his child, but there was no real alternative. Caroline couldn't take on six werewolves at one. He nodded then attacked.

Klaus threw himself at the man closest to him, and the pack descended upon him. They all had vervain soaked rope wrapped around their hands, causing each blow upon him to sting like acid. He let out a feral scream and ripped the heart out of the first Were he could get his hands on.

As soon as Klaus had distracted the barrier of men, Caroline had leapt into action. She kicked the man with the knife in the back of the head. She got in front of him, putting herself between the she-wolf and danger. This man showed no fear, he continued to move toward his target, and no manner of kicking or punching stopped him. He took the knife and stabbed Caroline in the side, her scream of pain distracted Klaus from his fight for a minute, but there was no time to get to her as he still had four werewolves to kill. Caroline head butted the man in front of her, knocking him to the floor. Before he could get up she put her knee on his chest and spent the greater part of her energy prying the knife from his hands. It was only when she was that close to his face, that she saw his eyes were glazed and slightly unfocused. He had been compelled.

She lost her grip on the knife for a moment and it swung towards her neck. She grabbed the sharp end of the knife, the blood from her hand dripped down onto her wrist, and she made her decision. A man who is compelled to attack will not stop attacking. She looked up and saw that Klaus had killed the final Were in his group of attackers. He turned towards her and she stood up, letting the man below her get the opportunity to lunge towards her, and when he got close enough she grabbed his forehead and jaw, and snapped his neck. He fell dead at her feet.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This story is rated M for a reason. Please review, your feedback is wanted! **

Chapter 7

Klaus was staring at her. Caroline had just killed a man. Her chest was still heaving, her heart was pounding in her ears, dead bodies surrounded them, and Klaus was staring at her.

His eyes moved down her body, they darkened when they saw the rip in her shirt stained with blood from where the knife had gone in. Her side was already healing so he moved on to see her hand that still had blood dripping from it. She watched as he took inventory of her injuries. Something behind her caught his eye and she turned around and saw Hayley beginning to stand. Caroline asked her, "Are you okay?" Hayley just nodded, swallowed her apparent fear and said, "I'm going to see if Elijah is okay."

"Ah, yes I was wondering where my dear brother was," Klaus mentioned, "So what did they do to him?"

"They snapped his neck, he should be alright by now, right?"

"If he isn't he will be soon, Little Wolf," Klaus reassured her. This time he saw Caroline flinch at her nickname.

Hayley left the room, leaving the two something's alone together. They were silent for a long time standing in the wreckage. Eventually Caroline said, "I don't know."

And Klaus looked at her in confusion.

"I don't know why I am here. I don't know why I didn't just call. I don't know. I just—I know that I am supposed to be here. And I don't know what that means. I guess it just means that I am staying, if you'll have me."

She was looking down, fiddling with the rip in her shirt as she made her declaration; answering the question he had asked her before the wolves attacked. He did not want her to be looking down. Klaus walked to Caroline, stepping over a dead body or two on his way. He lifter her chins so that she was looking at him, her eyes were full of doubt. "You are welcome here for as long as you like."

Where there was doubt in her eyes quickly faded to determination as Caroline's eyes moved down to his lips. She leaned her whole body into Klaus, grabbed him by the neck and pulled his mouth to hers.

Shocked for a moment by her actions, Klaus quickly recovered and returned the kiss with fervor.

It wasn't the first time that they had kissed. They had kissed in the woods, over and over again. But that kiss was the first and the last. A moment stolen in time. This kiss was different. This was a first kiss: a beginning. It was a kiss that terrified her.

Klaus' hand ran slowly down to Caroline's backside, and he pulled her legs around his waist. She squeezed his torso with her thighs, urging him to keep moving, to keep kissing her, and when he pulled her closer to him she slid her body slowly down his stopping when the apex of her thighs met the front of his jeans. Klaus broke their kiss a smile crossing his lips, "Eager, love?" he teased.

"You have no idea," Caroline smiled and leaned into his lips again, kissing the top of his mouth, catching the scruff on his face. She found that she like the feeling so much that she moved her lips over every inch of his mouth, scratching her skin on his five o'clock shadow. She began to move down to his neck kissing and nipping at his skin as she went.

Klaus began sensing the coming activities might not be suitable for his foyer, at least not suitable with the dead bodies strewn across the floor, so he smartly moved himself and the girl wrapped around him into different quarters.

Once they were safely behind the doors of Klaus' bedroom, he began to divest the creature before him of her clothing. He started with her jacket, she wouldn't be needing that for a while, it is hot in New Orleans and he isn't prepared to let her leave for Mystic Falls anytime soon. He ran his fingers up her arms, behind her to unclasp her bra, she let out a little sigh of relief as her breasts were released from constriction. He smiled at her initial release; there would be more to come for both of them tonight.

He was moving slowly this time. In the woods they were rushed, desperately clinging to each other, but this time he would take his time. So he pushed her hair to one side then his hands slowly lifted her shirt from her body.

She waited patiently, enjoying the beauty of anticipation. She allowed him to lead for now, to be undressed without protest. He started moving towards her invading her personal space predatorily. It made her nervous and she took steps backwards as he walked towards her. She jumped a little when the back of her knees hit his bed and she sat down abruptly. She smiled up at him and reached towards the front of his jeans, unbuttoned them quickly before his hand grabbed her wrist and propelled her backwards.

She giggled as her head hit the pillows and Klaus removed her bra and his head dipped down to catch her nipple between his lips. She gasped as he suckled her softly. As he moved to her other breast, rubbing his scruff against her sensitive skin, he also moved his hand to her jeans. He quickly unfastened her jeans and slid his hand underneath the thick denim. Her breathing stopped, her heart rate quickened as he slipped his hand beneath cotton to stroke her wet slit. His hand hinted at activities to come, the slight pressure he was giving her was not enough and she squirmed beneath him. His lips moved down her torso kissing and nipping skin as he went. He quickly removed his hand from her and gripped both sides of her jeans, removing them and her underwear in one fell swoop. He took a moment to gaze over her alabaster skin then allowed his mouth to fall where his hand had previously been.

Caroline's hands flew to Klaus' head pulling him closer to her. He smiled against her and sucked her clit in between his teeth. It took only a moment more and the entrance of his fingers into her core before she came completely undone.

Satisfied with his performance Klaus undressed himself and entered her swiftly. He continued to move Caroline through the ebb and flow of her orgasms; they didn't stop for hours.

-CKCKCKCKCKCKCKCCKCKCKCK-

She let a giggle escape her lips; her smile scrunched her nose, as she rolled onto his chest. She kissed him softly. Her tongue teased his lips. They lay in bed, sleepy from the day's excursions, neither wanting to actually fall asleep. Klaus feared if he fell asleep she would be gone when he awoke. Caroline, that when she woke up, he would go back to being the Original, the man she feared. So they stayed awake, stroking one another, lying kisses here and there, neither one breaking the spell.

They didn't have this the last time. Time to lie together, to enjoy the quiet spaces. And they needed to be still in the world before they dealt with the wolves, and Hayley, and everything else threatening to ruin them. Klaus began to say something to her but she shushed him. She didn't want it to end.

Caroline never seemed to get what she wanted because it ended when a man she had never seen before came barreling through the door yelling "Klaus, we need to talk." He was angry, but his eyes widened in shock when he saw Caroline attempting to cover her naked body with the sheet from Klaus' bed.

Klaus looked at the man with rage in his eyes, "You need to leave, mate."

The man smiled a little then looked from his friend to the girl in his bed. His gaze made her feel violated, analyzed. He was about to say something but Klaus interrupted him, "Marcel if you do not remove your eyes from the woman next to me I will rip them from your skull."

Marcel considered the offer, his eyes running over the exposed skin of her arm one last time before turning his attention to Klaus. "You came storming in here mate. Tell me what you've come to say or leave."

Marcel conceded to Klaus' demands, "We can talk later, don't let me interrupt you."

"You already interrupted," Caroline muttered under her breath. She released her breath when Marcel closed the door behind him. Turning her head to Klaus, she smiled when he rubbed her arm.

"I am sorry about that, love".

"Who was that?" Caroline asked, turning her whole body to him, folding her legs beneath her as she went.

Klaus visibly sighed. "That was Marcel. He's a vampire in charge here in the Quarter. You need to be careful around him, he's very powerful." He stroked her cheek and she rolled her eyes.

"Why is it that everyone is so sure that I will cause problems with the vampires in New Orleans? I AM a vampire. I shouldn't have to be nervous around other vampires."

Klaus moved behind her and began gently massaging her shoulders. She moaned out loud and Klaus smirked, "You are a vampire, but you are also connected to me and I don't want anyone to use you to get to me."

She visibly decompressed by his manipulation of her muscles. Then looked slightly defeated, "So you think I am a weakness."

"Of course not. Caroline," he didn't often say her name when talking, and when he did it often felt like a caress. This time it did not. He said 'Caroline' with a certain weight accompanied to it. She wondered if he was asking her to trust him, or to drop the question. She concluded it was probably a little of both.

The silence hung between them, this time it wasn't filled with kisses and caresses. Klaus stopped massaging her shoulders. The air was filled with things needed to be said, questions to be answered. Unable to take it any more, Caroline broke the silence, "I guess we need to talk about some things."

"Yes, I guess we do." He conceded.

"Can we talk with food?" after their hours of physical activity she was hungry.

"Of course, love." Klaus leaned to kiss her on the forehead, put boxers on, and went to get food. He came back a few minutes later and found Caroline slightly more dressed then he would like; meaning she was wearing underwear and one of his t-shirts. She looked comfortable in his clothing. He had brought up a box of pizza and bag full of blood.

"Evidently Hayley ordered pizza, so I stole one of her boxes." Klaus said.

"Thanks, this is great." Caroline replied before taking a big bite of cheesy goodness. "I am actually surprised your blood comes from a bag." She smiled at him.

"We have some on hand for emergencies. I thought you would prefer it," he sat next to her on the bed.

"I would, thank you."

"So love, what do you want to talk about?" he asked her.

"I think we just need to talk about what's happening here. Or talk about something. We never talk, Klaus" she replied, clearly nervous about her choice of words. "Like, why don't you tell me what you've been doing here since you left Mystic Falls?"

And for the first time since he had asked her to, all those months ago, Caroline got to know him. He told her about learning of Hayley's pregnancy, Elijah convincing him to move to New Orleans, the witches, Marcel, he told her everything. What he didn't tell her was his feelings for her, and in his retelling of the past few months he left out their time in the woods.

She proved to be a fantastic listener. Her shock showed in all of the right places, she considered everything he said and asked the right questions. She didn't press him for his feelings, appreciating the candor he was willing to give at the moment.

When he finished, she didn't speak, for lack of knowing what to say. He broke her silence by asking what had been happening in her life since he last saw her. Caroline would never say that she disliked talking about herself and their conversation happily switched to Mystic Falls. She talked about college, getting Bonnie back, the experiments at Whitmore. Klaus listened intently, his eyes darkened when she discussed moments of her life that had hurt her, or when she mentioned Tyler, but she knew that there was very little that she could do to quell his anger, so she allowed it.

As they talked they shared pizza and blood from the bag, and when she finished her story, they knew each other better. She knew his motives for moving to New Orleans and he knew that she had been growing discontent with her life in Mystic Falls. Caught up on life, they still had so much to say to one another. Caroline was the first to bring up an elephant that was still in the room.

"So," she started, "Should we talk about Hayley or the wolves coming to kill Hayley, or whatever—this," she gestured to the space between them, "is?"

He smiled at her wording, "Let me ask you a question, love" she nodded in consent, "Will you know what 'this' is without knowing about Hayley's status in my life?"

"No. Probably not." She admitted, slightly ashamed. "What is she to you?"

"She is the woman who is carrying my child," he started, "our child is the product of a one-night stand, and though there is no love between the two of us, she still is important because of her immediate proximity to my heir."

Caroline nodded at that, "And how do you feel about being a father?"

Klaus seemed surprised by her question, like it was something that had never been posed to him before, "I am coming around to the idea of the life that is in front of me. I am more concerned about protecting Hayley long enough bring the baby into this world. I haven't considered how my life will change after that."

Caroline hadn't expected that answer. How could he not consider what his life would be like? But then again it is men who are always off on the battlefield while women worry about the children. It is even more typical when Caroline considers that he lived for nearly one thousand years with gender roles that conformed to those ideals. His baby is something he wants, but he hasn't considered what that really means yet.

"Okay" she said eventually.

He looked at her, "okay?"

"Okay" she said again. Then moved the pizza to the floor. She dusted her fingers off over the box to avoid crumbs on the bed. "So what are we going to do about the people coming to kill your baby?"

"We?" he asked. "You're staying?"

"I think I am. For a while at least." She needed a change of pace, and while this was still a dramatic situation, it felt more important than the crazy that continually plagued her and her friends in Mystic Falls. "I think I can stop Tyler from attacking Hayley again."

Klaus looked visibly surprised, "What?" she said. "You don't think I can help?"

"I didn't think you would want to assist me in making Tyler pay for his actions."

"I didn't say anything about making him pay," she replied quickly, "I said stopping him. We can stop him and make him go away for good without destroying what is left of his life."

"You really have no experience in making people 'go away for good'" he intimidated, "it takes more than just empty threats. You have to follow through, love."

She frowned at him, then became sullen, "I think he compelled the wolves who attacked us today to try to get to Hayley." She admitted.

"What makes you think that, love?" he asked as he rubbed her arm in small circles trying to comfort her.

"It just seemed like the plan my mom overheard; wolves fighting in the daylight, without the benefit of the full moon. It makes no sense, which is why they were compelled. They didn't choose to do this. They didn't want to attack."

"You killed him because you had to Caroline," Klaus told her, understanding her melancholy. "If you hadn't then he would have killed you and Hayley." She nodded silently.

"I just can't believe that Tyler would do that. I guess I never considered how maniacal he could be. I think that this was a dry run, and since they failed, we may have a few more days before the real attack comes."

She was obsessing; focusing on the foreboding terror in order to avoid the final conversation they needed to have. Sensing her unease, Klaus changed the subject by pressing their lips together.

She pushed him back and looked into his eyes. Before she could say anything Klaus took control, "I know we have another conversation to have, and we need to continue to plan how to keep the baby safe from Tyler, but that can wait until tomorrow. Let's spend tonight together and we can talk again when the sun rises."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled at him, "That is such a guy thing to say," she countered, "lets have sex now and talk later." She frowned and considered the offer, "But maybe that's a good idea. I can worry more tomorrow."

"My thoughts exactly, love" he smiled, and then brought his mouth to hers.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry its been so long since I last updated. I'll try to be quicker. Please read and Review!**

Chapter 8

For the second morning in a row, Caroline woke up in Klaus' bed. Only this time, she woke up with her head on his chest. When he felt her stir, his hand moved slowly to her hair, holding her down. He shushed her then rubbed her back, "Go back to sleep now, love".

She giggled and kissed his chest, "No. No sleep. I'm hungry."

Ignoring her plea for food, Klaus flipped her onto her back and brushed his lips against hers. She let him kiss her, returning his fervor for quite some time. He started moving down her body after several minutes, kissing her collarbone, her neck, and when he got to her flat belly he stopped to dip his tongue into her navel. She was about to moan out in pleasure when her stomach let out a monstrous growl. Embarrassment overcame her and she slapped her hands to cover her face then started laughing.

Her giggles finally deterred him, "Ugh," he laughed, groaned in disappointment and said, "Alright, let's get some food in you."

They got up and semi dressed. Klaus put on the most casual outfit Caroline had ever seen him in, sweatpants and a t-shirt. She was still giggling from the inconvenience of bodily functions as she pulled on a pair of his boxer-briefs and buttoned the shirt of his she had donned the night before.

Caroline mentioned to Klaus as they were walking downstairs that she had a bag with clothes in her car, and he said that he could have someone retrieve it for her. Her eyes rolled in exasperation, "I don't want you to order someone to do something I can do myself. I just need to find my car. I have no idea where it is because Elijah took so many turns on the way here."

"Alright, we can go together to get your car after breakfast," he smiled, enjoying that they were making plans, even if just for the afternoon.

Downstairs there was a similar array of breakfast foods like the day before and Caroline couldn't wait to try everything that she had missed out on. She piled food high on her plate grabbing everything; fruit, eggs, pancakes, and bacon. Klaus handed her another champagne flute, this time filled with actual champagne. Caroline basked in the decadence of the moment. She was with an incredibly handsome, powerful man, who had unlimited access to the world, and he seemed to be willing to share it with her. She was enjoying the splendor and excess, smiling and laughing with Klaus over breakfast, when Hayley wandered into the dining room. There was a shift in the air, even though the wolf didn't say a single word to the pair eating breakfast.

(She did glance at their wardrobe and raise her eyebrows, but Caroline would have done the same thing if the positions were reversed. In fact it was nice that Hayley showed judgment instead of jealousy. It solidified in Caroline's mind that Hayley was not a romantic competitor. Even if she was the mother of his baby. "Oh shit," she thought, "stop thinking about romantic competitors. Fuck.")

Hayley got her food and left the room. With the closing of the door, Caroline and Klaus knew that the moment was gone. They had had less than twelve hours to ignore their problems and it was over.

Caroline downed the rest of her champagne and looked at Klaus, disappointed and expectant. She wanted him to start because she honestly didn't know how.

"So, you came here to protect my child from your ex-lover?"

She bit her lip before stating plainly, "Yes."

"That's all you have to say. Yes?" he said.

"Well you asked me a yes or no questions so I thought that 'yes' would suffice." Caroline said, becoming instantly cheeky. But she regretted her attitude seconds after the remark escaped her lips. "I came her because I believe that Tyler won't hurt me. If I can put myself between Tyler and your baby, then he will stop and walk away."

Klaus considered her plan; it was very noble of her. Very Caroline. He told her as much, "I think your plan underestimates the capabilities of your dear friend. I fear you will be surprised what people are willing to do when they have reached a point past desperation." He stopped his lecturing when he saw her look down. He had upset her, so he changed his tone, "Even so, I hope that you are right and that he could never hurt you. If he ever does, I will end him."

"I don't like that talk, Klaus. The answer to every problem is not death."

He smiled, reminded of her youth, "Death is not an answer, love. It is inevitability. I merely speed up the process for certain people."

She shook her head. He lacked a value of life, and that baffled her. "I don't understand how you could just throw away people like that" her voice begging him for an answer. She remained quiet, waiting. When the answer didn't come, she put it out of her mind. He would never reveal such an intimate thought to her. Or, maybe he didn't know the answer to that question.

He decided to take the conversation from a different angle. "I need to know what Tyler is to you." She looked at him confused. Of all the relationships standing between them, hers and Tyler's seemed the most straightforward. He noticed her confusion and clarified, "Are you still in love with him? Is that why you are so determined to save his life?"

"I love Tyler," she slowly stated, and was not deterred when he looked away from her with his jaw clenched. Instead she reached out to Klaus and took a hold of his arm. "But I am not in love with him." He looked back at her and she continued. "I don't want Tyler to die because he is my friend. And he helped me; we leaned on each other when we were transitioning into this crazy supernatural world. I would be upset if he died for any reason, but," she paused, considering what she was about to tell him, "I would be devastated if you were the one that killed him."

He rolled his eyes, "Why does it make a difference."

She looked down at the floor and gripped his hand tighter, "because if you kill him, I lose you too."

He was quiet for a long time, but for all of that time he continued to hold her hand. Tyler was a deal-breaker for her. He tried to figure out if that was something he could live with. He chose his words very carefully, leaning forward as he said them. "Unless it is my only option, I will not kill Tyler."

She glanced up at him, "Okay, I can live with that." She felt tears filling up in her eyes, anticipating the next thing she needed to say to him. She looked up and swallowed her feelings. "You're having a baby."

"I am," He said.

"I don't know how I feel about that."

He looked down at their hands, "I don't know how I feel about that either, love."

She shook her head, dropping his hand and sat back in her chair, "Why did you sleep with her? No—you know what, never mind I don't want to know. I just don't like her. I don't trust her."

Klaus almost smiled but thought better of it. These women seemed to think similarly about one another. "I can't just send her away, Caroline. Even if she and I have no love for each other, she is still having my child and I care about my child."

"I am not asking you to send her away!" she said hurriedly "No, Klaus, I want you to care about your baby, I just don't know how I—" she stopped abruptly, changing her mind about what she wanted to say. She wanted to ask how she fit into his life if he had a baby, but she thought better of it.

Maybe it was okay, just being here for now. And she felt resolve settle in. She could be here and help Klaus save his baby. She could enjoy Klaus, the danger, the quick and arousing feeling of being with him could last for as long as she was with him. She would allow herself to have this for a moment, and then leave, giving him the ability to live the rest of his life with his child. "Never mind." She said, "Let's just focus on keeping your baby safe." She nodded at him and smiled. "Let's just do that."

He nodded at her understanding that she was putting off the real issue. She was avoiding Hayley in his life. He didn't want to speculate as to why, fearing that the answer would be one he could not forgive. "Okay love. We can do that." He smiled slightly. Although he was still wondering and worried about where her head had gone to a moment ago, he leaned in to kiss her. She matched his intensity like she had the night before, but he felt like this kiss was different. She was yielding in a way she hadn't the night before while simultaneously holding back. He couldn't figure out the sudden change in demeanor. But he was sure it had something to do with Hayley.

This kiss became much different than their previous kisses, because they were rudely interrupted. They had both closed their eyes and were so lost in their own touch and taste; they didn't hear the sound of stilettos clacking on the marble floor. Caroline was in the middle of slipping her tongue into Klaus' mouth when she heard someone in the room laughing.

Rebekah, still laughing, began to clap in slow condescending motions. "Well done." She said causing Caroline to break away from Klaus putting her hand over her mouth, embarrassed. "Okay Nik, now that you've gotten her out of your system, can we get back to normal. You know, I stand by you, you betray me, I get angry, try to have you killed, I fail, rinse and repeat." She stood there expectantly. The couple just looked back at her. Caroline decided to play along with the Original sister, "Nice, to see you too Rebekah. How've you been? Are you lonely?"

Rebekah's passive aggressive smile was the greatest gift Caroline could have been given on that hectic morning. It's all about the small victories.

Klaus decided to ignore his sister. "Caroline why don't we move this upstairs."

"That's nice brother, pretend like I am not even here."

Caroline rolled her eyes at Rebekah's attention seeking behaviors, then turned her attention back to Klaus, "No, we can't 'move this upstairs'" she mimicked his British accent, "I need to get my car. I have a bag in there. With clothes. Not a lot of clothes, but more than I currently have."

It was Rebekah's turn to roll her eyes. "Why would you only pack some clothing if you knew you were traveling out of state?"

"I thought I was just going home for the weekend. I didn't come here until my mother told me about what Tyler was planning."

"Tyler's got another master plan to kill you?" Rebekah directed her attention at Klaus.

"Not me, sister, Hayley."

"And you came all the way here to save Hayley?" Rebekah asked Caroline in disbelief. "I don't see it."

"Caroline is proving to be extremely loyal to out family Rebekah. You will do well to remember that." Klaus cautioned.

Caroline had learned to not become involved in issues between siblings years ago when she told Elena that Jeremy was reading her journal, then decided to tell Jeremy that he was a jerk for doing so. Elena had jumped, first down Jeremy's throat for invading her privacy, and second down Caroline's for insulting her brother. So, wanting to avoid family drama, she remained silent.

Rebekah must have decided that her silence meant she was open to attack because she turned to Caroline and said, "It's nice to see a familiar face Caroline. I often am confused by the different women my brother has warming his bed. Of course, You, I will remember."

"Enough sister," Klaus quickly stood up, took a hold of Caroline's arm and walked her upstairs to his room. Throwing a look of daggers at his sister as they past her by. He nearly threw her inside his bedroom and slammed the door shut. He visibly relaxed as he distanced himself from Rebekah's malicious tongue.

"Get dressed, love. Were going to go get your car."

Caroline was instantly excited. For the first time since she had been in New Orleans she felt comfortable with her bearings. She knew that she was there to save Klaus' child. She knew that Klaus wouldn't kill Tyler. She knew that she was leaving as soon as the baby was safe. She knew that she would most likely be having sex with Klaus again in the next twenty-four hours. And to top all of that certainty off, she was going to see the glorious city of New Orleans through his eyes. She would see the world he built. His home.

-CKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKCKC-

Before they left, Klaus made sure that Elijah was watching Hayley. He seemed to be angry with Elijah when he was giving instructions. There was something going on between the brothers and it had something to do with Elijah's overprotectiveness of the woman carrying his child.

As they were walking away from the Michaelson mansion Klaus reached for Caroline and kissed their combined hands. She smiled but became worried when he began speaking in quick bursts of instructions. "I need you to be careful while you're here, love. When you're with me you are safe. But being with me will make you vulnerable as well. As I've told you, only some vampires have daylight rings. So, during the day there are less vampires to deal with, but those vampires are more powerful. At night more vampires than you have ever seen will surround you. Do not go out at night without me."

She nodded, remaining quiet as he was trying to protect her, in his own domineering way. He continued to walk her through streets of old houses, wrought iron fences, trees canopied the ancient street. They walked through a picturesque world while Klaus detailed all of the things that go bump in the night in New Orleans. "Marcel has the loyalties of the Vampires here in New Orleans. If he was the opportunity to take power from me, he will. Be very careful around him."

"But you are friends aren't you? I mean you created him?"

He nodded, pleased that she had remembered what he had told her the day before. "Marcel is loyal to me, unfortunately his men are not and there is discord about my leadership."

She considered that. "Okay I'll look out for Marcel. Anyone else I shouldn't trust while I am here?"

He smiled a bigger smile than she though possible. "My dear Caroline," He stated, "I find myself constantly forgetting your youth." His expression darkened. "Trust no one."

She looked at him sideways, "I thought you read my letter. You need to trust people."

"I did read your letter and, as you suggested, I keep my family members close to me."

"Uh huh" She said, "And there something weird going on with you and Elijah, you don't trust him. And Rebekah—well I just assume she's like that at all times, you don't trust her. So you, in fact, did not listen to me at all."

"You pick up on a lot, although you seem to forget certain events past. It is hard to trust people when they have spent centuries trying to kill you."

"Trust goes both ways, Klaus. Haven't you also tried to kill them on numerous occasions?"

He nodded consenting, "Well maybe you should help me learn to trust people."

She laughed, "No, you don't trust me. I can't help you trust someone when you don't even trust me."

"Hey!" he said offended stopping her from continuing to walk. , "I trust you."

She stared at him for a full minute before once again bursting out laughing. "No you don't," she said between chuckles. She grabbed his hand when he continued to look offended. "Hey its okay, trust is hard." She tried to reassure him, but she knew she had failed.

He seemed to be wrestling with something before he spoke. They were still stopped on the sidewalk and he ran his hand through his hair and said, "It's not that I don't trust you. I offer more faith to you than I would anyone else in your position."

"My position?" she said.

"Yes, you get more trust than anyone else who has tried to kill me, has plotted against me, who has loved my enemies. More trust than someone I have tried to kill." He paused then realizing what he was actually saying, saw the humor in the situation and laughed. "We have no reason to trust each other, Caroline."

She bit her lip, laughing, but didn't break his gaze. "You're right we don't."

"But you're still here."

"Yes, I'm still here. And you still want me here."

"Yes, I still want you here."

She smiled at him and continued walking down the street.

When they got to her car, she was visibly excited to see something familiar. She skipped a little and ran to open the driver's side door. Klaus had other ideas because he put his hand on the door stopping her from opening it. She turned and let Klaus push her back against the car. He placed his hand on either side of her and smiled into their kiss. She was in the placing her hands on his chest when Klaus broke away. He was glaring at something behind them. When she turned her head she saw a group of vampires across the street watching them. She matched Klaus' glare until the group turned their heads and walked away.

"I guess those are some of the vampires I need to be worried about huh?"

"Not while I'm here, love."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Caroline was glowing as she walked the streets of New Orleans with Klaus. They had stopped in a restaurant and she changed into clean clothes. Even though she was changing from jeans and a t-shirt into jeans and a more fashionable t-shirt, there was something about clean clothes against skin. Her vampire senses made any smell, even just day old clothes rank and she relished in the fresh scent of cotton. All of the negativity surrounding her life fell away as she was led towards Bourbon Street.

It had taken a while to hit her; she was actually here. She had never really left Mystic Falls, and now Caroline was wandering the streets of New Orleans. The voodoo vibe, which surrounded the whole town and sometimes seamed created and touristy, served its purposes by thrilling visitors into believing they were experiencing a more demonic world. That world shifted immeasurably from fiction to reality, as they got closer to Bourbon Street, into the heart of Klaus' realm. Here there was a deep feeling of history. Caroline could tell she was amidst an old world. This place had roots, supernatural roots. She was wandering through Klaus's creation, the city he built. She reveled in it.

Klaus led her towards a doorway after the bulk of her tour. He gripped her hand as they walked into Rousseau's. Caroline smiled at the familiarity. Even in New Orleans, a bar is like any other bar. Peanut shells covered the floor, clouds of smoke, and the smell of alcohol permeated the air. But mostly her smile came from the dark. Ever since she became a vampire she felt more content in the moonlight, or candlelight. She loved her daylight ring, she loved the sun and light that the ring brought her but the night was like a blanket. It hugged her. And the ambience of Rousseau's hugged her tightly. She could see why Klaus liked it here. He had told her about this place during their travels and she was beginning to understand his life here, or even anywhere. He was a man surrounded by familiar places but unfamiliar people. It was almost as if Klaus trusts the structure of the building, the places he has been, more than the beings that occupy them. Perhaps that is why he cares more about the city he built than the family he has brought here.

While she was thinking all of this, Klaus led her to their seat; a little booth in the back corner. Instead of sitting on opposite sides of one another, when Caroline sat in the far side of the booth, Klaus slid in right next to her. He put his arm around her and she was pushed against the wall. It made her heart race, her breath quicken. She was cornered. She had no escape.

Klaus ordered them two beers, a brand that she didn't recognize. It was a dark, smooth drink, it slid down her throat like thick blood and her body settled as the alcohol did its magic. They were talking quietly, discussing different moments of their day. Caroline was in the midst of telling Klaus that she enjoyed the tour of his city when Marcel, the vampire who had rudely interrupted them the night before, sauntered into the bar.

Klaus noticed him immediately, his smile dropping from his face and his grip tightening on her arm. She was somehow maneuvered farther into the corner of the booth and when Marcel sat down opposite them Klaus adjusted his body so his shoulder was in front of her. She then realized that his sitting next to her wasn't necessarily romance or intimacy, but protection and territory. Klaus was clearly marking his.

"Klaus, we need to talk." The vampire smiled at Caroline, "Why don't you go to the bar for a minute. I need to talk to your boy."

Klaus' hand gripped and pressed on her leg, apparently she wasn't going anywhere.

"She stays."

"It might be in your best interests for her to leave, we have things to discuss."

Caroline looked between the two men and decided that it was her turn to speak up. "You guys can have your pissing contest later, say what you need to say and then leave."

Marcel's entire body turned towards her. "Okay Kitten, here's what I have to say" Caroline grimaced at his leering face and leaned back in the booth, putting more space between her and the vampire and allowing Klaus to be in between them.

"According to the word on the street, your lady is pregnant."

The vampires let that thought hang in the silence. Caroline could see that this was not information Klaus wanted Marcel to know. She watched in avid fascination as the vamps both planned their next move, staring each other down. Before Klaus could say or start anything, Caroline spoke up. "That is ridiculous, I am not pregnant."

Klaus turned to glare at her. He did not like her particular strategy.

"Not you, Kitten, the other one, the brunette."

Klaus found his footing in the midst of this conversation, "I don't know why you're coming to me with this information mate. As if I could care about the pregnancy of some little girl. There is not relevancy in this conversation so you can leave now."

"Well it would be relevant if the baby was yours"

Klaus laughed, but he never stopped glaring at Marcel, "There are many things in this world that defy fantasy, but this is not one of them. Vampires cannot procreate."

"You're not just a vampire though are you Klaus?"

Klaus let his wolf eyes come to the surface. Caroline flinched in remembrance of times past when those eyes meant certain death, and Marcel backed away, prey avoiding a predator.

"Never forget it mate."

"Play nice now Klaus. I only bring it up because it is strange that you have a wolf girl living with you. Why keep her around if she is not pregnant."

For once, Klaus was thankful for his brother's humanity, "Elijah is infatuated with her. She stays as his guest, not mine."

Marcel considered this, his head slowly beginning to nod, but Caroline could tell he didn't really believe his sire. "Okay buddy, if you say so."

"I do say so. And now I say that it is time you leave."

"Okay, okay, I know when I am not wanted."

"You mean when your told your not wanted?" Caroline asked.

Marcel just smiled hit the table twice with his palm, and before he went he yelled to the barkeep, "anything they order is on my tab. I'll see you later Kitten." He smiled at Caroline then sauntered out into the daylight.

As soon as he was gone Klaus smiled at her, "Sorry about that."

She smiled, "he doesn't know about Hayley?"

"There's not many people I can trust with that information."

"I understand," she said. "It's life-changing. She's having a vampire baby. It's unprecedented."

A strange and content silence followed that comment. It wasn't until Caroline took a sip of her drink that she realized they had been that way for a great length of time. Her beer was getting warm. The visit with Marcel had made her uncomfortable. She was getting ready to go back to the house. Caroline leaned into Klaus, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Time to go, love?"

She smiled and sighed, "Yeah, time to go."

* * *

Once at the house they decided to spend the remainder of the afternoon 'resting.' Klaus had lifted Caroline off of her feet the moment the front door closed. She squealed in surprise as he swooshed up the stairs and threw her onto his bed. She smiled, knelt on the bed, and grabbed Klaus by the nape of his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. This time she was taking charge.

Using all of her vampire strength, (probably more than necessary, he may have gone willingly) Caroline flipped Klaus onto his back on the king sized bed underneath her. He pushed himself up, but she pushed him back down by his shoulder. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him, "I'm on top this time." She whispered.

Her lips were in the process of finding his ear, when she hear him make a slight growling noise, "As much as I love the foreplay love, if you want to be on top, you need to move faster. You have exactly five minutes before I-." Her tongue invading his mouth quickly silenced his lips.

"Alright, sir. I'll move more quickly." Never moving her lips from his, she took off her jeans and then straddled his waist. She pressed herself against him, slowly grinding her hips down onto his. Klaus, unable to take any more teasing, grabbed her wrists in his hands and flipped her over pinning her arms above her head and her body beneath his.

She pouted underneath him, "I thought I had five minutes."

He smiled and kissed her hard before saying, "you provoked me." His mouth returned to hers. They spent the next few hours battling each other for dominance, neither winning, neither conceding, both always struggling against one another.

* * *

Lovers living in a house with multiple people, who attempt to spend a day together will always be disappointed. Too much time gets in the way. The other people demand to be heard. The time they have alone is fleeting and that was even more true for Klaus, who was trying to dominate a city, and Caroline, who trying to save a baby. Once the sun sat, reality came crashing through the door. Literally, Elijah just barged into Klaus' room.

"Clearly," the vampire boomed, Caroline flinched, covering herself. And Klaus rolled his eyes, "You have been racked with worry over your unborn child. Let me assure you brother, Tyler did not attack today. I would feel better about watching Hayley if we had some plan of attack for when the wolf comes to take away your baby." When Klaus didn't move or acknowledge his brother in any way, Elijah started again. "Try, Niklaus, try to care about a life other than yours." Klaus glanced at Caroline. She was lying on her stomach looking at him. He held her gaze, the smallest hint of a smile crossed her lips and she raised her eyebrows, letting him silently know that she agreed with his brother.

Klaus broke her gaze and growled, "Fine. We will be down in a minute." Elijah left the room with as much authority as he left it. Klaus turned over Caroline and kissed her quickly. "Come on, Love," he mumbled and got out of bed. "Let's go plan a war."

Caroline shot up, "Not a war. Don't call it a war."

"Fine, a battle then."

She sighed with relief, "Thank you."

"I'm glad that makes you feel better love. But a battle will always begin a war." He smirked at her and put on a shirt.

She got out of bed and started to get dressed. "I didn't come here to start a war Klaus. I came here to help your baby."

"Yes. And that is greatly appreciated love. But something bigger is happening here. The wheels have started turning. You can't stop it now." He left the room with that horrifying comment.

"Sure I can" Caroline mumbled under her breath, following the vampire down to the dining room.

The hierarchy of the family could be seen by the positions they took at the dining room table. It was a massive mahogany piece that had probably rested in this particular house for the last few centuries and was occupied by the various members of the Michaelson family. Klaus took his position at the head of the table on the far side of the room. Elijah, ever loyal, sat to the right of his brother. Hayley was at the opposite end of the table, curled up in her chair, staring down the father of her baby. And Rebekah sauntered in past where Caroline stood and sat at a chair towards the middle of the table. She never could choose a side.

This made Caroline stop and wondered where she belonged amongst these vampires. It was disconcerting, against all instincts, to place herself in a room full of Originals, but after pausing a moment Caroline walked in confidant. Choosing to sit as far away from Hayley as she could, she sat at the position to the left of Klaus folded her hands on the table and waited for the festivities to begin.

Klaus began, "So Elijah, you called this apparent meeting, what would you like to talk about."

"Well Niklaus, I was thinking that we should have a plan in place for when Tyler comes to town. Since you seem to have no worries whatsoever about Hayley, it falls to me to make these plans."

"And what makes you think I have no worries for the girl?"

"You seem to be more concerned with showing Miss Forbes around the French Quarter than with protecting Hayley from a very imminent threat."

As the brothers continued to argue about Klaus' intentions, Caroline watched Klaus. He was battling, and he was happy about it. Caroline knew from experience that Klaus loved a big reveal and he was currently building up to it. Elijah was playing right into his hands.

"It's nice to know that you have such little faith in me brother. But I have ascertained that Tyler will not be attacking until tomorrow. Now we have plenty of time between now and when he comes to find the best way to protect Hayley."

"And how do you presume to know that?" Elijah inquired.

"Oh come on now. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Tyler has already tried and failed in the daylight. He was avoiding the night because the majority of vampires in New Orleans do not have daylight rings. In theory, during the day the wolves would outnumber us. Hayley would have less protection with the sun out. But he failed and failed miserably. His only advantage now is the full moon. Which is tomorrow night." He smiled at his brother.

"And during the full moon, we are at a huge disadvantage because a werewolf bite will kill a vampire." Elijah reminded them.

"Unless they are given Klaus' blood." Caroline pointed out.

"Which is why they will try to separate us from Klaus during the fight." Rebekah spoke up.

"My thoughts exactly little sister." Klaus smiled. They were all catching on, starting to work as a group. They ageless creatures began to strategize.

Caroline was shocked as the Originals planned for battle. These vampires who are always at odds were coming together, working in perfect synchrony, hatching a plan to save one of their own. Hayley and Caroline both offered up advice that was accepted to make sure the plan was perfect. Caroline only had to speak up once or twice in opposition. Specifically when Klaus tried to keep her away from the danger.

"No," she exclaimed. "I have to be by Hayley. You need to put me closest to her."

"Caroline, you will be of better use on the outskirts of the fighting," Klaus chastised.

Elijah also had opinions about Caroline's addition to the plan, "I don't trust her remotely with Hayley."

"I don't care whether you trust me or not! If you all fail to stop Tyler, I can be the best defense against him. He won't hurt me."

"Caroline you are not actually considering the circumstances" Rebekah said.

"What are the circumstances then?"

"If you are the last defense…if we all fail then you would have to kill Tyler. Could you do that?"

She stopped at that. She truly believed that Tyler would stop once he saw her there. That he would reconsider if she were actually there putting herself between him and Hayley. She didn't really consider what would happen if that didn't work. Could she kill him?

"No, I can't kill him." She admitted. "But I still believe that I can stop him."

Klaus nodded at her insistence, relenting. "Okay, lets work Caroline closer to Hayley, the wolf may stop if he sees her."

Elijah started to protest but Klaus interrupted him. "We can work out different plans for different scenarios. Let's make sure one of them includes Caroline near Hayley."

Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. She liked what they had come up with; as long as she was positioned near Hayley. They had plans and backups and backups for the backups. If they were as strong as they all boasted to be individually, they should be formidable together. Caroline had been a member of many groups plotting war against the Originals. For the first time a plan involving those three immortal creatures made absolute sense to her. Caroline liked her odds. She grinned, thinking it probably had something to do with being on the side of the powerful, instead of the powerless.

**A/N: What do you guys think? Is Caroline being naive? Will Tyler stop because it is her? Maybe you'll find out next chapter :) As always, please review. **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

When she was human, time was constant in Caroline's life. There was a set path and a frame of reference for it. Four years of high school, four years of college, marriage by 25, kids before 30. Everything in Caroline's life had a moment in time, even if that moment was far off in the future. When she became a vampire time had a different consistency. She was not held to deadlines of life because life was, for the most part, infinite. As a human, time is something approaching you slowly, then faster and faster until your life is laid out behind you, instead of ahead. Now time was something that Caroline was chasing. How many decades, millennia could she conquer? What changes in culture will she be present for? What wars? What rebellions?

The Michelson's had already experienced the passing of the ages. They had watched civilization live and die for hundreds of years. As vampires they had found stillness in life. Time was not moving quickly at all. They now sat on a flat line. They moved their own clock forward; choosing when to participate, when to be a member of time and when to stand beside it.

These thoughts were running through Caroline's head around noon the day of the full moon. There was fourteen hours between finishing stratagems and the moment of impact. Fourteen hours that felt like minutes to the Originals. They saw that stretch of time as a way to pause and contemplate before battle, just as a runner takes a deep breathe and stretches before a race.

Caroline had not experienced enough life to be able to feel that way about time. She wished she could. She was in the library with Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah who were all sitting motionless, letting the time pass. Hayley was curled in a corner wringing her hands. She was nervous, powerless, Caroline wouldn't have been surprised if the girl had been chewing her hair.

Caroline, like Hayley, was also nervous. She started quelling her nerves by shaking her foot, which progressed to shaking her leg, then the adrenaline pumped through her skin, in every vein, forced her to her feet.

She paced for a considerable amount of time, back and forth and back again. The monotony did not calm the waters at all. She began wringing her own hands when—"Oh will you calm down! You're a vampire! Stop acting like such a... human." Rebekah was looking at her with intense exasperation.

Caroline had been pulled from her stupor by an angry blonde vampire. She thought about ignoring her, but then reconsidered it: a verbal sparing would be a good distraction.

"Well, I'm sorry that I—"

"Enough!" Klaus yelled, before things escalated. "Rebekah shut up. Caroline come here."

Rebekah rolled her eyes and Caroline took the six steps she needed in order to stand in front of Klaus. He was sitting in an armchair. He looked up at her expectantly. She raised her eyebrows. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. She was about to exclaim in protest when he shushed her. "Calm down love. You just need to relax. Shutdown. It's something all vampires need to learn how to do. So just breathe, take a breath." He spoke softly and his hand ran up and down her leg.

With every stroke of his hand Caroline's breathe slowed down. Her body quieted and she found the strange stillness that her vampire cohorts had all seemed to master. In Klaus' arms, she found a blank space in her mind, where she wasn't feeling everything, where everything wasn't heightened, and she could just breathe.

Her senses started coming back to her when she felt a strange humming next to her. She looked towards Klaus, his blood was pumping, his nerves firing at faster and more erratic speeds, and his eyes had a subtle yellow tinge. She stared at him. He was feeling the pull of the moon. He could resist it, she knew that much, but she had had no idea that his whole body was begging him to change every time the moon was full. Hybridity, it seemed, only gave you the ability to stop; it didn't end the craving.

He nodded at her surprised face. She could see the bloodlust in his every expression. He stroked her leg one last time and said, "The wolves will be changing now."

The vampires stood at attention waiting for their command orders. Klaus smiled his small smile, "Places everyone."

* * *

They had disbursed amongst the streets immediately surrounding their Mansion. The plan they had was simple in its execution. Each vampire had a ring of protection. Elijah was the furthest out, the first defense and the first to see the wolves.

There were six wolves advancing slowly upon him. Elijah flexed his fingers menacingly, crouching slowly, waiting for them to pounce. He had been instructed not to attack; he couldn't throw the first stone. There was a pregnant pause. All six of the wolves stopped and waited.

The head wolf was a rusty brown color, with flecks of gold in his fur. And it was he who advanced first upon the vampire. Elijah quickly threw the wolf off of him but by then the other wolves were circling him snapping at his ankles.

When the next wolf advanced, Elijah decided to take no prisoners. The wolf went for his throat and Elijah grabbed the dog by its neck. The dog continued to snap at him. Elijah took his other hand and snapped the wolf's neck.

The other wolves were enraged. And now, instead of only one, there were five wolves on him. One grabbed his leg with its teeth. Elijah screamed with pain and bit the wolf closest to his mouth. The wolf howled and scampered away. This gave Elijah the opportunity to rip the heart out of the wolf on his leg. The two wolves remaining retreated away, howling and crying for their fallen brethren.

Elijah could feel the werewolf venom coursing through his veins. This couldn't kill him, but it hurt like a bitch and slowed him down. He reached into him pocket for the vial of Klaus' blood and drank it quickly. He wanted to damn his brother. Will there ever be a moment when he is not reliant or compliant to Niklaus? But, Elijah could pontificate later. This was not over. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed, "Six in all, I took out two. One is injured. No sign of Lockwood."

Three blocks closer to his home, Klaus hung up the phone with Elijah. As he heard the wolves approaching he let his own wolf come closer to the surface. His eyes yellowed, werewolf venom filled his mouth, his fangs became more pointed, and his bones were just on the edge of snapping. Caroline was wrong about one thing; he wasn't formidable with his family. He was formidable. The most powerful creature alive. Nothing was going to stop him from taking or keeping what he wanted. When the first wolf made an appearance Klaus sprang into action. This wasn't Elijah, waiting, calculating, Klaus was ending this before it got to her.

Klaus had been in this situation before. He couldn't help but draw the parallels as the first wolf ascended. He had spent a night ripping apart the supernatural. Fortunately for them, he was indifferent to these creatures whose lives he was ending. There was no betrayal here, like there had been with his hybrids, no need to prolong their torture. Their deaths were quick and sharp. He snapped necks, he drained them dry and he did so in such a blur that it wasn't until his onslaught of attackers ended that he counted the bodies surrounding him. Eight. Elijah had said six attacked him. He killed two, which meant that there should only have been four wolves attacking Klaus. The wolves were moving in separate packs. Coming from different angles at the vampires stationed around New Orleans. He hadn't ended it after all.

He cursed as he grabbed his phone, "Rebekah, No sign of Tyler, Elijah should have run his perimeter by now. I am coming back to the house. Hold them off. I'll be there soon."

"They're already here Klaus," she said. "They've got me surrounded." She was standing on the front porch of their mansion. With twelve wolves circling her. None of them attacked her they just kept circling. She darted out to the right trying to distract the wolves. They pounced on her, scratching down her arms, pushing her back onto the ground. She felt one wolf stamp his paw onto her hand, holding her down. She threw him away from her, but the second that wolf was gone another took his place. His claws were digging into her skin. This continued to happen, different wolves pouncing on different body parts. No matter how hard she struggled she couldn't fight this many at once.

She felt crushed beneath the weight of these angry dogs. None of them were using their teeth. She felt their paws though. Everywhere there were wolves, and she struggled pathetically until she felt a hybrid approaching her. She was so relieved, Klaus was here and he would help her with these mutts. She yelled out to him and caught a glimpse of a man much darker than her brothers. He walked straight into the house. Once he walked inside, the wolves started using teeth.

She felt the first bite of venom almost softly at her ankle, the pup hadn't bit down hard, but the poison slowly burned up her leg. The pain started to radiate into her other limbs. But there were other bites to worry about. On her chest, her arms, the flesh of her shoulder, nothing seemed to be off limits. The wolf standing on her chest stared into her eyes. She could tell, in his eyes, he was human. And that human barred his fangs, growling slowly and menacingly, before her throat was clenched between his teeth.

Rebekah writhed in pain, seeing spots; she felt the sounds of her screams gurgle in her throat. Just before the world went black she felt the wolf being ripped away from her and caught a glimpse of her brother above her.

* * *

Hayley had been sitting upstairs in the library staring at the item in her lap when she began to hear them howling. This moment was completely backwards. To be frightened of a wolf cry. To be protected by a vampire. By a group of them. It didn't make one bit of sense, and yet, here she was. Sitting in a chair, letting her fingers feel smooth metal, in a house, surrounded by their scent, feeling horribly uncomfortable, and strangely safe.

Rebekah was sitting across from her, waiting until she needed to go outside and protect the home. She was quite calm which was helpful, but Hayley couldn't help herself. She resented the bitch sitting there. She had the luxury of being calm, which was more than Hayley could ask for. Rebekah was in control, she had power, she was alone. Hayley could only dream of a life where she had all of that. Hayley had been powerless since she got pregnant, she had lost control when Klaus came to New Orleans, and she was living in a house constantly occupied with vampires, not to mention the other being living within her. She moved her hand to her lower stomach. She did love her baby, as frustrating as it was, as out of control it made her, she loved that damn thing inside her. It was part of the problem.

If only the baby weren't Klaus'. If only Tyler hadn't found out about it. If only.

"Its time for me to go now" Hayley looked up at the Original sitting next to her. "They're approaching."

"Weren't you supposed to wait for Klaus' call?"

"Yes, but things never do go according to plan, it seems like they incapacitated my brothers, because the wolves are coming towards the front of the house as we speak." Rebekah gave her a small smile, which did nothing to quell her gathering nerves. If the boys failed, what did that mean for her?

She looked down again at the thing Klaus had given her before he left. She didn't like it very much, but understood the necessity. She felt the trigger of the gun, moved her finger down the barrel, and thought again about power. There was such a lot of force within such a small object. She hoped it would be enough.

Rebekah had been right. It was only a few minutes after the vampire left that Hayley heard the wolves moving closer. She heard growling and the snapping of teeth, and horrifyingly, she heard the front door open and close. She stood up preparing herself, clicked the safety off of the gun the way that she had been shown and let her hand fall to her sides. Breathe.

He rounded the corner, his wolf eyes staring her down. Hayley had never felt Tyler was the most loyal person, but at one time she thought she might be different beneath his tough exterior. He just seemed so strong to her. He had fought the sire bond, he had survived, and she had admired that.

"Hello, Hayley."

"Tyler."

He walked towards her slowly. "I'm surprised they left you alone. They really don't do much to protect you here, do they?"

Hayley just sneered at him. Let him think what he wanted. This would work.

"They are protecting me. From you. Don't act like they are the bad guys when you are who I need protecting from Tyler."

He just stared at her. Still glaring, still full of anger. "I'm not discussing this with you." He walked towards her with determination. He was stopped when she raised the gun in her hand and pointed it at him.

"Don't move an inch."

He stopped, smiled a small smile. "Okay Hayley. You can shoot me. I am a hybrid. It will only slow me down, you can't stop me from doing this."

"Sure I can." She said, and pulled the trigger.

The shot rang out, it hit the wall behind Tyler's head. And the moment she missed was his moment to attack. He shot forward, grabbing Hayley by her arms, knocking the gun out of her hand. He tried to throw her over his shoulder, but she kicked and fought her way out of the hybrids' grasp. When she had her arms back to herself, she swung out at Tyler's face with all of her strength. She felt the punch in her shoulder. It stung down her whole arm to her fragile fingers. She swung out again, this time hitting his nose. He must be human, she thought, he bleeds.

Tyler adjusted to being hit by a girl, and he started to swing back. He knocked her down, kicking her in the stomach as she lie there. She grabbed him by the ankle and kicked out at his knees. He was down on the ground in a moment. He was bracing himself, she was going to hit him again, when he felt two other hands grabbing him by his shoulder and throwing him onto his back. He looked up at the blond vampire in disgust, "Caroline."

* * *

She had taken her place, just as Klaus commanded. She hated her role in this, but it was the only way that Klaus would agree to her being near Hayley. Caroline was on the roof. She watched as the dogs approached Elijah slowly. He held his own. If he was unable to handle it then it was her job to alert Klaus. But no alert was needed. She saw more wolves approaching Klaus, more wolves than expected. They were coming in waves. She assumed that even more wolves would approach the house.

Klaus was annihilating the wolves. He was so swift, so powerful. He worked quickly. They all died, but he also offered mercy, in that they died quickly. She knew that he could prolong their suffering. She was almost surprised that he chose not to. She was impressed by his humanity, however slim it was.

She was so enamored by the sight of him that she had completely missed Tyler walking into the house. She was completely jarred away staring at this powerful angry man, when she heard a gunshot ring out.

She let her senses feel what was happening with Hayley, and discovered that Tyler was there. "Dammit, I am the worst lookout ever!"

She jumped down from her perch to the balcony a story below. She saw, through the glass windows, Tyler and Hayley fighting on the floor. She ran into the room, grabbed Tyler by his shoulders, pushing him back onto the floor. She then immediately took a step back and put her hands up defensively. She was ready to fight him.

"Caroline."

"Tyler." She replied almost as disgusted as he was. She positioned herself between him and Hayley. He started to stand up and she kicked him back down. "Hayley, are you okay?" She heard the affirmation and breathed a sigh of relief. "Plan B. Okay?"

Tyler glared at her. "You taking orders from Caroline now Hayley? Or are you both taking orders from Klaus?"

"Shut up Tyler."

"You do not even realize the hold he has on you Caroline. Look at yourself, your protecting Hayley? You're leaving all your friends, all of your loyalties behind for what? For him?" He shook his head.

"I said shut up Tyler." Caroline stepped towards him and kicked out again, this time making contact with his face. Once he had recovered from the hit, Tyler glared up at her, he was starting to go wolf. She couldn't let him. He stood up and advanced towards her.

"I don't want to do this Caroline," he said. This was it; this was why she needed to be here. Tyler would have attacked Klaus by now, or Elijah, but with her he would try to make her find reason. He would talk it out with her. Unfortunately for Tyler, she wasn't in a listening mood.

"Then walk away, Tyler." She commanded.

He just shook his head. "I can't do that."

"Well, I can't let you continue." Caroline said. Hayley started getting up behind her. She was hurting, Caroline could tell, but she was alive, and that counted for something.

"Don't make me do this, Caroline."

"I am not making you do anything!"

"You're NOT!" he screamed. "You're HERE. You chose Klaus. You chose him because of what? HER" he pointed at Hayley. "Your loyalties lie with a man who's tried to kill you and the offspring he conceived? Why? Is he a good lay? Does he fuck you harder than I did?"

She looked away when he said that and he advanced, he was within inches of her face. "You are making me do this. Don't pretend that you are not. You chose to be here, to be his whore."

Caroline slapped him.

Tyler's head snapped. He looked away for a second and a smile crossed his face.

"Fine, Caroline. Be that way." And the boy she had loved pulled his arm back and punched her square in the face.

And Caroline attacked.

Tyler took hits to his entire body. She was punching everywhere. And he was fighting back. He grabbed her arm and threw her over his head. The paneling in the wall broke when she hit it. Her disorientation was what Tyler needed to make his move on Hayley.

She had run towards the door when the former lovers had begun fighting. After he threw Caroline, Tyler ran to Hayley, grabbed her from behind and threw her onto the floor. Hayley scrambled back when she saw Tyler pull out a knife. Caroline was starting to get up so he had to move quickly. He pushed the pregnant girl back down and forced the knife into her stomach. Hayley twisted and the knife went in towards her side, he drew the knife out and stabbed her again. Blood gushed from her belly. And that's when he felt Caroline grab him from behind and bite down onto his neck.

She was trying to rip out his jugular. He could tell that much, but from her strange angle she was having a hard time doing it. He grabbed her and flipped over his back. She was flat on the coffee table and Tyler brought the knife over her throat.

Klaus came barreling into the room. Tyler had a knife to Caroline's throat. Hayley was bleeding on the floor. And Tyler knew he had the upper hand. His wolves might all be dead, but he had Caroline and Hayley, and the Original Hybrid could do nothing about that.

Klaus seemed to realize that too, because he paused and slowed his movements. He glared at this presumptuous werewolf. "I would let the girls go if I were you, Tyler."

Tyler actually smiled. "I don't think I'll do that. I think were gonna play a game called, I Hold a Knife to Your Girlfriends Throat While The Mother of Your Child Bleeds Out in Front of You. Because if you come near me or Hayley I'll remove Caroline's head from her shoulders and no vampire on earth could survive that."

Caroline was absolutely still. Klaus had replied to Tyler's threat, the boys were going back and forth but there was white noise in her ears. A constant buzzing and swirling stopper her from hearing them battle out her fate. She looked over at Hayley, bleeding, eyes wide. The girl was terrified. Caroline reached out to the girl and Hayley, in a moment of camaraderie and weakness took the vampires hand. She squeezed.

Caroline felt a tear fall down her cheek. She didn't know what it was for, but she assumed it had something to do with sisterhood and family. Two things she did not seem to have anymore.

She looked down and saw a jagged piece of wood inches from her wrist. She brought the inside of her wrist to the wood and began dragging it across the sharp edge. She felt the rough edge of the wood, like she was giving herself splinters at first, but she pressed down harder, until there was a fresh stream of blood from her wrist. She once again put her hand out to Hayley. When she felt the blood, Caroline saw a light in her eyes. And she brought her hand repeatedly from Caroline's wrist to her mouth. Small amounts of blood were not enough to heal her, but they were enough to staunch the sickening flow of blood from her stomach.

It was also enough to distract Klaus and Tyler from their pissing match. Tyler turned to see what Hayley was doing, lessening his grip on Caroline and the knife to her throat. Klaus threw Tyler across the room.

Now that she was free, Caroline bit into her wrist and immediately fed Hayley her blood. The flow of vampire blood would hopefully stop any more damage to Hayley's body. Caroline cradled the girl's head in her lap while she fed and looked up just in time to see Klaus' hand push into Tyler's chest and grab his heart.

"KLAUS STOP." She screamed.

He looked at her like she was insane, but he stopped. "He tried to KILL YOU. He tried to kill Hayley. Do not ask me to stop."

"You promised me!" She begged. "You promised that you would not kill Tyler if you had another choice. You have another choice here."

He shook his head, and gripped the wolf's heart tighter in his chest. Tyler winced and screamed out loud. He was in pain. It was oddly satisfying. Caroline didn't want him to die, but she enjoyed him receiving some of the pain he had brought upon in the past year.

Hayley had stopped drinking, she had needed a lot of blood and Caroline was feeling weak. But she still walked over to Klaus and put her hand on the arm that was inside of Tyler's chest. "Please Klaus, we don't have to let him go, but we also don't need to kill him."

Klaus grimaced. He was shaking, struggling. He didn't move his arm, He was fighting with himself and he hated it. He knew that he should rip the heart from Tyler's chest; he had only stopped because of the tiny blonde vampire holding his arm.

He saw Elijah walk into the room. He needed to make a decision. He didn't like that such a small creature could stop him, that his choice was dependent upon her approval. He clenched his jaw and turned to his brother.

"Glad you could make it. As you can see, I have incapacitated this young hybrid. I would like you to take him to the crypt so we can drain him of any vervain in his system and compel him to leave and never return."

Elijah smiled at his brother's restraint, "That sounds like a good plan C, brother."

Elijah moved closer and Klaus visibly relaxed. His hand moved out of Tyler's chest. Elijah moved in to incapacitate him, Tyler grabbed Caroline by the neck and bit her, she screamed out and kicked behind her, hitting Tyler and pushing him backwards. She advanced upon him before either of the Originals could and punched him twice before snapping his neck.

"Okay, now put him in the crypt and drain him dry," she said wryly.

* * *

They were all seated around the fireplace. The four vampires were celebrating their victory. With the help of Klaus blood, Caroline and Rebekah's wounds had healed. Klaus had put Hayley to sleep after he had ensured she was feeling better. He could still hear the faint beating of his child's heart, so he assumed that Tyler's knife had missed his mark, or Caroline's blood had healed not only Hayley, but the baby as well. They were sipping champagne, silently contemplating the day's events. They had each compared tales, and apparently while Caroline, Klaus, and Hayley fought it out in the library, Elijah had slaughtered another dozen wolves. All while Rebekah lay bleeding.

Caroline was the first to stand up. She said her goodnights and walked into Klaus' room. For the first time, she felt awkward about the prospects of sleeping there. It was one thing to fall into bed with Klaus and crash there after some magnificent sex, but tonight she was in no mood and didn't know if that meant she should sleep elsewhere. She wasn't surprised when he walked in to his room. He walked towards her solemnly. He leaned down to kiss her and she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said, "just not tonight."

Both of his hands were cupping her face. "Its okay love. I just want to kiss you."

She looked at him confused, but let herself be kissed. It was intimate, personal. He kissed her lips softly, then her eyelids, her nose and he pressed his final kiss to the pulse point at her neck. "Let's get some rest love."

They were lying side by side. Klaus took her hand under the sheets, entwining his fingers with hers. He was asleep beside her when Caroline felt a jolt, and for the first time since she was a vampire, she felt the ticking of the crocodile following behind her.

**A/N: I am sorry it took me a while to update. I really wanted to do this chapter justice and it is longer than usual :) Let me know what you think. **

**Read and review please!**


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